A new study from Yankee Group finds that the hype surrounding Second Life is considerably bigger than the virtual world´s real-life relevance.

Boston-based research firm Yankee Group´s note, "Wither Second Life?" states that the virtual world Second Life is stagnating, with the user growth rate reaching its peak in October 2006.

According to the study, users visit Second Life for only 12 minutes on average--per month.

Yankee Group said that the lack of growth may be attributed to the fact that people are opting to go mobile instead of sitting in front of a PC.

"Despite near-continuous coverage in the popular and business press, metaverses like Second Life are experiencing slowing growth and limited impact because of the tethered nature of their virtual world experience," Yankee Group said.

Meanwhile, sites such as Facebook and MySpace are enjoying steady growth. According to the study, Facebook´s average time spent per user increased 24 percent to 186 minutes over six months.

San Francisco-based Second Life developer Linden Lab didn?t reply to requests for comment as of press time.

News Original From: next-gen.biz

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