On last log-in to Second Life I was prompted with one of those user surveys you get every now and then - usually of the “Is your Second Life experience improving” variety. (Yes, Same, No…although they leave out “hell no” and “I don’t log in enough to have an opinion”).

This time the survey asked whether my avatar was a different gender than me. Curiosity always gets the better of me, and I checked the SL blogs but can’t find anything explaining the purpose of the survey. In what way will knowing that improve the SL experience? Why is it useful? I mean - it IS useful, especially for all the eggheads that I know and love who study these things, but why is it relevant to the Lab? Any ideas?

Update: The Lab has posted about the new entry screens and surveys, although specifics about the questions aren’t provided. I’m wondering if any of the results will be shared with the community or for academic purposes. As usual, their blog was piled up with comments on stability, which didn’t seem entirely relevant…I want to know how many men are women and women men and how you deal with other!