Wired has written an article about how Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life. It seems that most people quickly abandon their avatars after creating them, because there simply isn’t anything to do. And that most users who were logging in on a regular basis were from Asia and Europe and that the big American advertising money was being spent on about 100,000 Americans.

Those that do log in are usually attracted to the free virtual sex or linden dollars. And then there are the griefer attacks. Which leads to my favorite part of the article.

Last winter, CNET’s in-world correspondent was conducting a live interview with Anshe Chung, an avatar said to have earned more than $1 million on virtual real estate deals, when Chung was assaulted by flying penises in a griefer attack.

So is the end of Second Life? Advertising is still there, and Electric Sheep is making out like bandits, but why log in? I would rather play WoW and go on some raids with friends.

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