Disclaimer: Got this from Blog tips though they give credit to xkcd for the image. It says there that images found there use Creative Commons License. Just in case though, leave a comment in case of copyright issues.

Here’s the facts:

1. Second life still has more than 10 million members/registered users.
2. Tens of thousands of people are always online any given moment.
3. You won’t read much about Second Life anywhere anymore.

So where does this leave us? For me I tend to agree with Tameka Kee that it is still a vibrant virtual world. However, to those who do not belong to that virtual world Second Life is almost as good as dead, after all they no longer hear anything about it.

As for those “journalists” that claim that Second Life is now just an online schoolhouse, there is truth to that since more and more organisations are making use of the platform to aid in distance learning, however tell that to the millions of users that live in the virtual world and you can be sure that it is more than just that to them.

It’s interesting enough to know that when we type updates into Twitter that people all over this world can see what we’re thinking in real time, but you might not have realized that your tweets were also reaching the citizens of the virtual world of Second Life.

New World Notes reports:

created by UK developer Daden Limited, the Twitter Fountain of Second Life takes the public feed from the Web 2.0 site, converting each Tweet into a literal thought balloon that burbles up from a koi pond located on Daden’s SL island. (Visit the Twitter Fountain by clicking the SLURL teleport at this link)

So, when you’re hanging out in Second Life you can stay connected to the real-time ramblings of internet users across the real world. Is this useful?

Well, at this point I don’t think we’re able to control whose tweets we see–Twitter Fountain users can’t choose to see just the tweets of their friends. At this point, maybe we could think of the Twitter Fountain as a form of conceptual art, with real world thoughts ballooning up out of the fountain and floating off into the air.

Perhaps you’ve heard your friends or colleagues make references to their adventures, exploits, or business endeavors in Second Life and have wondered “What is the DEAL??? Isn’t that a pretend world? Why are there so many people spending so much time and money in there?”

I have got to admit that the concept of Second Life went over my head the first few times I heard about it–I just couldn’t wrap my mind around what the seemingly irresistible appeal of it was. Last year I decided that the only way to really understand what the dealio was was to stop thinking about it and just do it.

So I took a flying leap into the vast blue ocean that is Second Life and started exploring and getting involved in community activities.I am excited and scared to know that I now have a legitimate business excuse to be hanging out in Second Life again, so I don’t have to feel guilty about spending time in there. Excited because it’s a hoot! Scared because it has the potential to be a major time sucker-upper if you don’t keep a tight reign on things. It’s easy to lose yourself in Second Life.

I can barely explain what it’s like to work virtually in the real world, so I have no hope at this point of explaining what it’s like to work/live/play virtually in a virtual world, so if you’re curious about what Second Life is, please just watch this video. The British little boy does a much better job than I ever could .

Oh, and if you’re interested in exploring it further, please leave me a comment, and maybe we could meet up “in-world” as they call it and explore together.

Unlike so many corporate presences in Second Life, “The L Word” sim is no ghost town. The virtual home of Showtime’s cable television show buzzes at all hours with activity, full of avatars chatting and dancing.

Together with its developer, The Electric Sheep Company, Showtime won a technology Emmy this week for its work inside Second Life. The award was one of three scored by the virtual worlds industry, along with MTV’s Virtual Laguna Beach and Second Life creator Linden Lab.

Via Reuters