Second Life

by Phillip Molnar

Contact the principal investigator- Phillip Molnar (phillipm@8sages.com) with your questions, comments or request for the updates on this topic.

Over 1 Million Americans (1,998,743) are fleeing the United States to live a portion of their lives in a virtual universe named, “Second Life”, that exists only in cyberspace.

Our May 2007 survey of 165 Second Life residents, finds a broad majority (83.5%) saying that things in Second Life are going the way they want them to go and (49.4%) who say that things in Second Life are getting better.

By contrast, Leo J. Shapiro and Associates LLC May National Poll of Americans finds only a minority (28%) saying that things in the United States are going the way they want them to go and a large majority (74 % up from 69% in April) saying things are getting worse for the nation.

Just as the massive migration of Swedes in the early 1900s triggered social reforms to improve life in Sweden, the surge of migration from the palpable reality of the United States to the virtual reality of Second Life is a portent of impending social change in the United States.

Spending an average of 24.8 hours (in a seven day week) on Second Life, residents have found acceptance, purpose, and, sometimes, even religion. Although intangible, the same desires that drew early immigrants to the New World are now echoed throughout this virtual world.

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