Charts & Graphs

Get a Life

Facts and figures about the online virtual world Second Life circa 2009.

  • Average daily number of Second Life users: 300,000
  • Total hours spent “inworld” in 2009: 481 million
  • Total number of hours spent “inworld” since 2003: over 1 billion
  • Second Life currency: Linden dollar (L$)
  • Average daily exchange rate of Linden dollars to U.S. dollars: L$256 = US$1
  • Linden dollars in circulation: L$6.95 billion
  • Number of Linden-to-U.S.-dollar currency-exchange companies: 2
  • Total value in U.S. dollars of Linden dollars traded at exchanges: $116.5 million
  • Size of Second Life economy: $567 million
  • Growth of Second Life economy in 2009: 65%
  • Growth of U.S. GDP in 2009: −2.4%
  • Gross resident earnings: $55 million
  • Combined income of top 25 earners: $12 million
  • First Second Life millionaire: Anshe Chung, land baron
  • Biggest Second Life virtual industry: Real estate
  • Real-world equivalent of land in Second Life: Rhode Island
  • Second Life eCommerce market: XStreet
  • Sales in user-generated virtual products in Second Life marketplace: $6.1 million
  • Sample of products available: Royal castle with “full privacy,” Xplicit sex bed with 251 “passionate and sensual animations,” set of 205 different kitchen and appliance textures
  • Real-world companies who have done business in Second Life: American Apparel, Adidas Reebok, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Starwood Hotels, IBM, Reuters
  • “Live” concerts, listening parties, and meet-and-greets held by: Jay-Z, Duran Duran, Suzanne Vega, Talib Kweli, Chamillionaire, Regina Spektor
  • Specially zoned area for adult content: Zindra