Virtual Worlds : Reality Flight At Newsweek & Wired’s U-turn

Second Life currently has a turn over rate of 90% – that is, 90% of people who try Second Life leave after 3 months. With this in mind, the cover of a Newsweek magazine we saw this week in Frankfurt airport left us wondering what the heck the staff there were reading – not the blogs obviously, probably other magazines. The cover says, “Why are millions of healthy people choosing to live their lives online? Welcome to second life.” Live? Or just try it out?

Note that word ‘healthy’! Nothing subjective there, eh?

While we’re on the subject, Adverlab has a provoking post on Wired Magazine’s huge U-turn on the subject:

Last fall, Wired published a huge “travel guide” on Second Life. “[...] This exotic realm can seem bewildering and strange to first-time visitors,” the magazine wrote then.

The August 2007 issue adds its voice to the growing murmur of disenchantment. Its story “How Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life” has a great quote about the preceding SLandrush: “It’s as if the moon suddenly had oxygen.” Then it goes on about how there’s nobody around and there’s nothing to do and how advertisers now feel stupid for choking on Wired’s own hype.