Creative Maze

Second Life is a virtual world in which every single item and location is designed and created by its users, commonly referred to as ‘residents.’ However, what sets it aside from many other virtual worlds is the fact that it has a booming economy. Even in the face of recession, residents continued to spend Linden dollars in world, purchasing anything from virtual services, to pixel furnishings and virtual clothes for their ‘avatars.’ 2009 saw the economy total 567 million US dollars.

Linden Dollars, the ‘currency,’ of Second Life can be bought through an exchange, the Lindex. They can then be spent in world and those earning Linden dollars in world can convert them to US dollars and cash them out of Second Life, thus meaning that the platform has immense earning potential for its users and actually generates a very real life income for many.

But what do the users of Second Life actually buy with their Linden dollars in Second Life? One of the biggest expenses for those who choose to buy it is Second Life land. People often pay a fee in advance and an ongoing monthly fee for the duration that they ‘own’ their land. Many then use this land to set up stores of their own from which to sell their goods, clubs or homes. Significant amounts of money are also spent on avatar appearance items such as Second Life fashion items, skins, virtual hairstyles and all things to make our pixels look good!

There’s also no shortage of cash spent on services in world. These services might include marketing services to enlist the help of specialists in marketing your own products or even on a live musician or comedian to perform at an event at one of the many clubs or live performance venues within Second Life.

It can be difficult for those who have never used Second Life to comprehend how others can spend money on items that do not really have a physical existence. But the Second Life economy is very real and is a genuine income for so many. And for those who really don’t get it, I simply ask, do you pay for your Internet connection? Because you can’t physically touch that either…

Find out more about Second Life.