According to Heider , the primary Second Life audience is adults between the ages of 25 and 35, of eclectic races and genders, with heavy international consumption (which coincides with Bizooki’s target demographic ). As of a year ago, there were roughly 8 million registered Second Life accounts, but Heider estimated that with a likely number of multiple account users, there were probably between 4-5 million active users in the virtual world.

One of the generic debates raging on about Second Life is does a technologically-progressive concept like this virtual world add or detract from society ? More succinctly, does it offer yet another productive outlet/option for people to communicate or does it serve as another distraction in the way of leading a productive life?

“I’m not a big believer in the addictive effects of media,” Heider said. “The assumption that always goes with (Second Life ) is that (users would otherwise) be doing charity work and reading good novels, but it’s (usually) the same people who are watching Jerry Springer at home.

“I think (Second Life ) allows people to become socially connected in a way they wouldn’t be otherwise. It’s like anything else; people lived without physical contact with the outside world before there was an Internet.”

Au agreed that Second Life is “definitely…an avenue for people who are unable to socialize in a standard way.” He estimated that 10 percent of active users have some sort of handicap and that some of the most popular members of the virtual world have Asperger’s Syndrome , since “they tend be very socially empathic.

“People have these opportunities to flourish (on Second Life ) that they wouldn’t necessarily in the real world,” Au said. “You often have to have the right connections in the real world in order to succeed.

“Then you find out about some of these (Second Life success stories): …There’s this soldier who came back from Afghanistan with his kneecap blown off who is able to supplement his income by running a successful Second Life casino…There’s a nightclub called Wheelies and it’s run by a paraplegic .”

Au also said that many of his former Linden colleagues and employees have left the company to set up their own businesses within Second Life . While the profitability of Second Life business is debatable, many users seem to view the virtual world and the expenses that come with being a member as an escape that eclipses anything else they might be doing.

“I think for most (users), it’s the same reason they spend eight dollars on a movie,” Heider said. “The first few months of my research, I’d tell people that it seemed like they were spending a lot of money in Second Life , and people would respond that the $30-40 a month they spend in here is what they normally budgeted to see movies, so instead of spending $8 three times a month to see a movie, they buy land and houses.”

Heider said that other than general socializing and virtual sex, one of the main preoccupations in Second Life is shopping.

“There’s probably a shopping center for every five human beings on Second Life ,” Heider said. “I could buy a new shirt for 50 Lindens (a quarter in real money)…I could live a totally macked-out life in Second Life for 30 bucks a month.”

Barefoot and Martinez seemed to agree that Second Life attracts a specific kind of consumer and that the medium ultimately allows a new avenue of expression for people.

“A person who enjoys Second Life would find it appealing for whatever reason because it’s (probably) someone who normally has trouble with social interaction in real life,” Martinez said.

“I don’t think that Second Life has any (social) implication one way or the other; I don’t think some normal teenage boy that would otherwise be an All-American or captain of some sport would all of a sudden become a shut-in recluse because of Second Life .”

Barefoot added, “I feel the same way about someone spending too much time in Second Life as someone who spends too much time watching sports or playing World of Warcraft … I guess it’s all good in moderation as long as you don’t spend your entire life on them.”