The paradox of SecondLife and the future of virtual world

In the one-year media feast, Second life has been shaped into a new star in the Internet field, in the unanimous praise and period approval, Second is regarded as the next Google, the next subversive Internet application Model, for us to reveal the future of digital living.

However, at the same time, the defects and problems faced by Second life have not been applied, and the enthusiasm for second life masks the rationality of the future thinking of the virtual world.

Second Life Fruit as its fans praise is a dream of paradise, the Internet paradise, is that perfect?

Recently, the United States "Time" magazine selected the 2007 Best 50 sites and 25 daily life can not be separated from the site and 5 worst sites, the results as usual Second life list, but surprisingly, Second Life and MySpace were included in the list of the worst five websites, one first, one second, all counted backwards.

In the "Times" editor Maryanne MURRAY Buechner's pen, Second life became unbearable, in addition to loading too slow, difficult to operate, Avatar image is very ugly, action up and down, there is no attraction, the so-called " The assumption that virtual people do virtual things is no better than "magic in the World of Warcraft", while some companies enter second Life to open shops, staff meetings, and training, and it seems to her that the CEOs of these companies are just trying to get on with the fashion products. Therefore, Time magazine has good reason to put the fiery second life into the doghouse.

In fact, before "Times", the criticism and questioning about second life are endless. But the irrational hustle and bustle of the media will obscure the existing problems of second life. As early as time put Second life in the doghouse, the "Los Angeles Times" in this year's July 14 article, a more in-depth discussion of the two problems of Second life: The Second life of the world's barren and active users of the problem. The famous "Wired" magazine also questioned the advertising effect of Second Life world.

Anyone who has been to the Second Life world, may have a common feeling, that is, the world is an empty world second lives, you will often find many buildings, beaches, small island in a barren. As the Los Angeles Times describes, "on a recent visit, the island of Best Buy had no visitors at all and its virtual staff did not seem to be online." Sun's event schedule is empty and Dell's Green Island is deserted. American Apparel's clothing store notices on empty Windows-' They've closed the store. "Often you are a person wandering in the inside, surrounded by no one, as if you came to an abandoned world, giving people the feeling is empty." So, as Brian McGuinness, head of the famous hotel aloft, says-"There's no compelling reason to stay." "Starwood International Hotel Group (Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.), which operates Aloft, has closed its store in Second Life, Donate its virtual land to nonprofit social organization TakingITGlobal.

The immediate consequences of a barren world are naturally the lack of active users, who, on the official website of Second Life, claim to have exceeded 8 million of registered users. But this does not exclude those who have been registered after only once and never landed, and a person registered several accounts. Even at peak times, only second Life30000 to 40000 people online, according to Brian Haven, a research institute Forrester analyst.

In this case, the loss of second Life users and advertisers is inevitable, and the decline of virtual economy volume is inevitable. From March to June this year, the number of active avatar in Second life dropped by 2.5%, and the dollar's trading volume dropped from 7.3 million U.S. dollars in March to 6.8 million dollars. At the same time, some marketers are beginning to wonder whether the time and money they invest in it is valuable. Brand Consultants, who bring many brands into Second Life, are busy helping customers into other virtual worlds. IBM, once a frequent presence in Second Life, is also expanding into other virtual worlds, such as there, Entropia universe. The Millions of US agency, which has been serving second life, recently announced that it has officially partnered with Gaia Online, a popular website for teenage children, Millions the CEO of US Reuben Steiger revealed Gaia Online will be officially released.

Second life is due to the lack of users, customer churn, virtual economic transactions decline in this relatively grim situation, on the one hand from outside the impact of other virtual world and competition, on the other hand, the factor is also in its own.

because, Second life's operating mode of operation may have a certain defect.

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