It was inevitable. The press attention Second Life has received in the past few weeks had to result in a backlash.

The newly serious Valleywag is among the first with a piece questioning the statistics cited by journalists covering the virtual world operated by Benchmark Capital-backed Linden Research. The gist of the blog's argument is that the web site's login records don't match its registered user claims.

With NetSuite primed for a big IPO and Facebook supposedly worth $1.6 billion to some large corporations, Silicon Valley is looking for the next out-of-nowhere startup that zooms to a ten-figure valuation a la YouTube. Its combination of community, Sim-like gaming, and money-making potential, means SecondLife may well be that company.

But, that will only occur if an increasing number of people actually use its service. And if that's happening, why is that Alexa chart below pointing down?

For more on Second Life, see:
GigaGamez
ZDNet

Tags: linden+research, second+life, benchmark, benchmark+capital, vc, venture capital