Looking further at the metrics released by Linden Labs, the gender breakdown of unique users shows a couple of interesting things. Firstly, Second Life would have to be one of the most gender-balanced internet offerings around, and for one month there was even a female dominance by a small margin. Secondly, the surge in growth over the past six months has seen more males sign up than females which has widened the gap significantly.
The standard perception of internet-based entertainment is that males will seek out options where there are set goals to achieve, the antithesis of Second Life. The statistics are showing this perception to be flawed. Of course, the true test would be the gender balance of active accounts which isn’t clear from the data provided. Nor is the Australian gender balance.
I’ve also heard a figure around that about 30% of the female avatars are actually run by males. How and where this came from I don’t know, but it would be interesting to know the breakdown of male puppetmaster/female avatars and vice versa.
I’ve also heard a figure around that about 30% of the female avatars are actually run by males. How and where this came from I don’t know, but it would be interesting to know the breakdown of male puppetmaster/female avatars and vice versa.