Key Second Life metrics for December
The latest Second Life metrics and statistics are out from Meta Linden this month, covering to the end of December 2007.
Let's see how Second Life fared for December. Highlights after the fold.
Total signups increased by 529,224 (4.73%) in December compared to a growth of 605,095 (5.72%) in November. New-user retention to 90 days is still about 10% according to Linden Lab, having apparently remained more or less unchanged over the last 12 months.
Total premium accounts increased by 624 accounts in December (0.67%), and by , compared with 982 in November (1.07%). Comparable to October, but not as high as November.
The three most active regions by average time spent per active user in December were Japan, the Netherlands, and Bermuda. Overall, active users spent an average 49.17 hours in Second Life during the month of December, up from 45.06 in November.
The Second Life map grew by 24.55 square kilometres (2.6%) in December, compared to 67.19 square kilometres (7.7%) in November. The total at the end of November was 963.66 square kilometres of simulated space, of which 19.2% is Linden mainland (down from 20% in November), and the remaining 778.31 square kilometres are non-Linden estates.
Under uniform growth, you can expect to see the percentage land growth continue to diminish each month, as each new simulator represents an increasingly smaller portion of the total area. Actual land growth was slower in December than November, but don't expect to see long-term stable percentages.
December saw a sharp jump in Lindex activity, with sales climbing to US$849,599 compared to US$527,762 for November. Overall, it seems it was the busiest month for the Lindex on record.
Overall age demographics continue to trend towards us crusty oldies. 74.17% of the population is 25 years and older - a slight gain from November, and the older users spend far more time in Second Life than younger users with those over 44 years old continuing to be the heaviest users on average, and teens and under-25's spending the least time.
Females spent nearly twice as long online in Second Life in December as the boys - another trend which continues steady each month.
Total user hours for December totaled 25,646,287 hours, not quite breaking October's record 25,941,525.
