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'Second Life', a computer program to create 3D virtual worlds and live a 'second life' online, is still popular, says the chairman of the firm to refuse to press reports that portend the destruction of this spoiled child of former internet.

Mark Kingdon, chairman of Linden Lab, the company launched in 1999 this game in which people were socialized as if leading a parallel life, shakes his head negatively when they heard rumors that claim that their site loses popularity. "The reality is that Second Life continues to grow, every second someone signs up," Kingdon says in an interview with AFP.


However, reporters who rushed to cover cyber-events taking place in Second Life ( 'Second Life', in English) that described the site as an online realm of science fiction come true, have been withdrawing their bets and before criticizing the community praised enthusiastically. A well-known website that publishes the latest news from Silicon Valley, Valleywag.com even placed in Second Life "list of dying," asserting that "there seems to be more academic than a failed experiment."

The number of "active users" of Second Life increased 25% since September 2008 while the money exchanged in the virtual world has grown in similar proportions, Kingdon said. "We are seen as the spoiled child of the Internet, as with (the site of socialization) or Facebook (the site of mini-blogs) Twitter, but continued to incredible levels," he insisted. "We'll see over time, but our society is growing and we're profitable," he said.


Second Life, where people are socialized in the form of animated characters called 'avatars', which are designed and dressed according to the taste of each, has been accused of inflating its success to report the total number of people registered without specifying how many their visitors.

According to Kingdon, 15 million people have used the virtual world of Second Life since its inception in 1999, and there are about 70,000 users connected at all times.


The 'ups' have increased from about 41.5 million hours in total on this website in January, higher than the 28.3 million hours of use during the same month of 2008, according to Linden Lab, headquartered in San Francisco.

According to the company, daily transactions in Second Life account for more than $ 1.3 million and more than 15,000 merchants selling clothes, artwork and other items for avatars, virtual-all.


During last year, according to Linden, users spent 360 million dollars in the virtual world.

Schools consider it a 'place' right to organize on-line courses and bands are using it to 'play' before an audience from all parts of the world, although somewhat scattered.


Moreover, companies whose employees are spread across the globe are increasingly turning to Second Life as a forum in which to organize their meetings. "There is something about that sense of presence," said AFP Karen Keeter, director of IBM commercial that uses Second Life for meetings. "Power to see yourself as an avatar sitting next to each other is a feeling of immersion that you get with no other alternatives."

IBM's campus in Second Life is a picnic area with hammocks, a garden with sculptures and a café where avatars can spend time chatting.