Last year was all about Second Life. The MMO was portrayed as teh future. Has it panned out? A new study from Boston-based research group Yankee Group states that the user growth rate hit its peak in October 2006. From the study:

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.

Meaning that users would like a more mobile experience instead of being tied to their PCs, apparently. The study also says that the average SL user spends 12 minutes in world. Each month. Funny, I thought they'd need a little longer — 15 minutes or 20 at most.
SL Hype [Next-Gen]"

Contact information for this author is not available.