Who are the Women of SL?

EPN, a non-profit foundation, released a report two years ago on the demographics of SL users, based on a survey of 246 residents in late 2006 (Reuters, 2006). Women tended to frequent SL more than men, and reportedly were better educated (“often at the university level”) than male members. As a qualifier, 10 percent of all members had experimented with gender, and that percentage increased to 16 for men. Second Life has been called an innovative space for the “creative vanguard” (Reuters, 2006). SL residents spending more than 30 hours weekly in-world tended to “belong to the creative or IT professions” (Reuters, 2006). Interestingly members who enjoyed “happiness” and “success” in RL were likely to experience the same satisfaction in SL; saying that, however, “a small group which feels less comfortable in the real world that has discovered fantastic social possibilities in Second Life [includes] retirees, the unemployed, housewives and ‘those who are ill or physically challenged’” (Reuters, 2006).