Why Choose To Stay Using Second Life?

People arrive at Second Life for a variety of reasons. However there is usually a single prime reason for sticking to it - for many this is engaging in social activities.

While people finding Second Life do so mainly through friends, they stay because of more friends. They can connect with people from around the world, make new friends, have new relationships and discover new things about themselves. For many what matters is simply chatting.

Contact

Meeting people was the top reason for being in Second Life. People love to chat. Second Life is a 3D chat room, with added extras of being able to create your own content and express your creativity in many many ways. It also offers an opportunity to enjoy others' creativity too.

Findings from our recent survey show that people love to socialise, no matter what the virtual environment around them is. 35% people do prefer real 'mirrored' locations that they have either visited or want to visit. After that 15% enjoy the tranquility of a beach or nature environment. 

It is all in the perception. When you are sitting at your keyboard, the beach can have a calming effect. When you feel isolated this platform offers you a means for communication. To feel secure, you choose somewhere you know or have heard of.

Communication

Over a third of people who use Second Life, use it mainly as a communication tool with other people. An eighth use it to have adventures and discover new places as well as new personalities inside themselves (including gender change). They use it as a way to learn about what is possible in their own lives.

It truly is augmented reality if it can help enhance lives of those who use it. There is also a warning that people are people and sometimes people get hurt. All tales have their morality story.

 

Creativity

It was encouraging to see that ten percent of those surveyed wanted to create and to share their creativity. Second Life is a virtual world that supports and encourages this.

In Albert Einstein's words:

"Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom." 'Out of My Later Years', 1950. 

 

As children who either have or are at high risk for bipolar disorder score higher on the creativity index, this would indicate that these people are offered an outlet for their creative expression. People with bipolar are amongst the best content creators in second life.

Entertainment

As people enjoy taking the limelight and entertaining, we also love to be entertained. 11% wanted to visit clubs, pubs and bars (I notice this is significantly lower than in real life) and 9% like to engage in entertainment activities.

Shopping

Of course shopping was on the list! 8% love to shop and visit shopping locations. For many this is a way to express the lifestyle they aspire to in their real life, but that they can attain within Second Life for a fraction of the cost.

Role Play

Finally I will touch on Role Play. I thought Role Play would be one of the 'biggies' here. It wasn't. Although people enjoy role-play, I was told that there are better platforms out there. World Of Warcraft was cited as the best one and Second Life was seen as a totally different beast.

10% liked to go to role-play locations while 7% liked to engage in role-play and fantasy activities, I assume 3% simply watch? I was shocked at these figures because I believed that Vampire and Gorean roleplay was huge in Second Life.

They may be there, but role-play is not as big as the desire to engage with others at a social level and interact with them. 

Second Life is more than a game, it is social engagement and augmented reality.