Critics over SL – end of the hype or beginning of a crisis ?

Several articles has been published recently following the publication of a forrester study showing that several company are leaving Second Life as their audience is not what was initially expected …
An exemple : http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon_second_lifejul23,0,7924397.story

In the meantime, the september european SL conference of Berlin has just been canceled. The message posted on the frontpage confirms that the event had not enough financial support http://www.slconference.eu/

All these bad signals will probably worry future and existing clients investing in SL … At least for the moment, they worry the press in France πŸ™‚
Is it really the sign of the beginning of the end for Second Life ?

A few elements to keep in mind :

1/ Our involvement in Second Life is mainly an invitation to explore virtual universe. If Second Life vanishes one day, the 3D social environment will probably modify for a long time use and habits on the web.

And so for our client : being involved with Second Life allows them having a deeper experience with their ecosystem.

Audience in SL is for sure a problem – but it is not a massive market – it’s a long tail market where communities and individuals can be reach.

2/ Business models inside second life are discussed a lot these days. But we care first about delivering the best experience between our clients and communities by creating a conversation : SL probably remains a good communication plateform / a bad marketing plateform.

3/ Several companies have massively invested inside SL. A lot of money circulates around SL. Companies rarely leave their investment behind them …

What is your opinion regarding these critics ? Is it the same ‘business as usual’ critics or a deeper sign of a crisis ?

Pierre from Paris.