Second Life Demographics

[Jerilynn Lemon]

Accept my apologies in advance if this has been covered andanswered before.

While wandering one day on the grid, I began to wonder if LL has ever done a demographic study of who uses and enjoys Second Life. Has a demographic breakdown ever been conducted or maybe someone, through observation, has broken down age groups (ages are not reflective, just examples)

18-24

25-36

37-45

46...

I think the point of my question is made.

I also ask because at one time, in the sim I use to call home, someone mentioned a former rp'er who in RL was in her 60's and residing in Italy. I had rp'ed with her before and I never would have surmised that.

Of course, this isn't a "NEED TO KNOW" thing, just one of those things that crossed my mind one evening.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

You may find this thread interesting http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Postmoderna-SL-2014-Resident-Demographic-Survey-Results-Part-1/m-p/2806582

Of course it is a limited sample of self selected people that took the survey and couldn't be considered scientific by any means but the results showing age groups are interesting .

The problem with SL is that only LL knows for sure what DOB's are given upon registration, and even they don't know how many are actually truthful.  In RL you can pick up age clues by body appearance, but not in SL.  I also find that people that are older in RL that are residents in SL are pretty 'young' at heart and in spirit.  Probably more so than their contemporaries.

[Bobbie Faulds]

The older folks have kept their minds sharp. They are obviously computer savvy. Especially if they are doing any building in SL. So...that hot guy or gal could be a gal or guy and they could be old enough to be your mother...or grandmother....snickers.

[Phil Deakins]

I knew a young woman in SL (mid to late 20s maybe) whose mother and grandmother were poldedancers in SL

As you pointed out, age makes no difference to whether or not a person enjoys fun such as RPing.

[mikka Luik]

Yes to all ... and then add a few =^^= ok maybe not the 18 one...

[Pussycat Catnap]

I think its safe to posit that the general age in SL leans towards older.

You can intuit this by looking at what fashion styles and music styles are popular.

 

Venues cater to 80s music a lot, or to country - which indicates an pre-millenial generation that was most likely in its teens to early 20s in the 1980s.

Fashions also seem to often be a bit... dated...

Assumptions on gender roles likewise... and arguably ethnic demographics as well (millenials are a lot more diversity embracing, pre-millenials seem to range from diversity-tolerating to diversity-adverse).

There are also a number of sims that are indicative of cultural presumption / appropriation rather than immersion. That's a very fine line at times... especially with regards to "when is a person not of a certain culture presuming/appropriating versus immersing. The many "interracial" sims show the extreme example of 'presumptive stereotyping', and a number of places seem to do this with regards to gender as well. I am less able to speak as to whether that happens with LGBTQ venues, or even whether or not it happens with 'Anglo culture' venues.

- These again imply an older population that is less experiences with people outside of its own base, and trends more closely to Anglo-American culturally than is currently seen in 'mainstream western culture'.

(When I log into SL, I often feel like I'm setting the wayback machine to the late 80s in the people and conduct I encounter. But this could also be a result of regional differences.)

 

There are no exact demographics available in SL - but there is a LOT of data that can be gleaned by observing the different communities and comparing them to communities in RL - you can get a good eye into what kinds of people are here.

 

[Persephone Emerald]

Good observations, Jerilynn.  I hadn't considered how the prevalence of a Gorean subculture, for instance, reflects rather dated views of gender roles, let alone how dated views of other cultures creates such odd presentations of them in SL. Other examples are how Native American cultures, African cultures, and Voodoo are portrayed in SL.

[Syo Emerald]

---

Persephone Emerald wrote:

Good observations, Jerilynn.  I hadn't considered how the prevalence of a Gorean subculture, for instance, reflects rather dated views of gender roles, let alone how dated views of other cultures creates such odd presentations of them in SL. Other examples are how Native American cultures, African cultures, and Voodoo are portrayed in SL.

---

Gor is a roleplay, not a subculture. Its views are not dated, but completely out of reality, even for people who were in their 20s in 1980 :smileyindifferent: . At "best" its a fantasy fetish world for people without taste in roleplay, but the need for a fancy decoration for their slave/master play time.

And I can also not really agree with the rest of this observations. Second Life has all kind of clubs, not just 80s music and the clothes reflect more a mixture of RL fashion trends and a huge portion of "what if..." elements painted in a never ending summer and never ageing population.

[Bobbie Faulds]

Some of that is because that generation has the money and leisure time to spend in SL where the younger, post-millenial is more mobile with smart phones glued to their ears or the fingers texting, tablets with them, etc. They are also establising their careers so don't have the leisure either.

Again, observations.

[Jerilynn Lemon]

That is a surprising poll. Though not scientific in any sense, the three upper age groups were not expected. 1) 46-50 2) 41-45 3) 51-55 Everyone is young at heart, that's what makes SL an interesting experience. I'm hoping another poll be conducted in a year or two. It will be surprising to see how it's changed (if at all)

[Celestiall Nightfire]

---

Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

You may find this thread interesting

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Postmoderna-SL-2014-Resident-Demographic-Survey-Results-Part-1/m-p/2806582

Of course it is a limited sample of self selected people that took the survey and couldn't be considered scientific by any means but the results showing age groups are interesting .

---

Yes, from that survey:

"To gather data, I placed survey terminals at the Postmoderna SL HQ location inside of Second Life, dance venues, the Second Life 11th Community Birthday Celebration (SL11B) and on the community forums.

During that time, I was able to capture 119 completed surveys."

So, *limited information.

 

Here's some data from 2008, which I think is a more accurate reflection of SL demographics.

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/03/gen-y-demographics-in-second-life-43-.html

 

*(I've never heard of Postmoderna SL before, rarely go to dance venues, and didn't go to SLB11.   There are probably a higher percentage of SL residents that fall into this category, than that of the 119 survey takers)