Second Life is a well known virtual world in which every single item of content is created and designed from scratch by the residents, or users of the platform. However, Second Life is simply miles ahead of the competition for one main reason. It has a booming virtual economy. Even as the real world struggled with global recession, Second Life residents continued to spend their 'Linden dollars,' and 2009 was a record year. Residents spent the equivalent of 567 million US dollars in Second Life.
The currency of Second Life is Linden Dollars. They are bought through the exchange, better known as the Lindex. These Linden dollars can then be spent on a variety of goods and services made or offered by other users or residents. The residents earning Linden dollars in Second Life can cash them out into a very real currency! This means that Second Life is actually a means of real income for many people.
But what on Earth are Second Life residents actually buying with their Linden Dollars? Well one of the biggest purchases for many is that of virtual land, which can be a place to house a shop to sell your items, a club or venue to host events or even just a virtual home, kitted out with a house and furnishings. There's also big money being spent on avatar appearances. It seems the Second Life users are keen that their characters look the part with thousands of residents shelling out on skins, Second Life clothing and virtual hairstyles.
There's money spent too on services including marketing, on hiring live musicians to perform at clubs and so on as well as on furniture or virtual homes. Essentially, whatever you could buy in real life, you can probably buy a Second Life version.
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...
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