Private Region

Description

Private islands are islands that are privately owned and operated, separate from the mainland.

Purpose

While users purchase private islands for many different purposes, some of the more common reasons that a user would want to purchase a private island are:

• Special Projects - Many users wish to create special builds, or hold special events, which require a vast amount of available space. By purchasing a private island, the user then has at their disposal 65,536 square meters (about 16 acres) of virtual land to use at their discretion.
• Commerce - Many private islands are purchased with the intention of being "split" into smaller parcels of land, much like those available for purchase on the mainland. Once a private island has been split into individual parcels, those parcels are then used to establish businesses, sell to other avatars as a place to build their homes or businesses, etc.
• Business Use - There are several private islands in Second Life which are owned by real life businesses, and are used for a wide variety of purposes, such as holding virtual meetings amongst their employees, having press conferences, or even advertising their products.
• Educational Use - As Second Life continues to grow, more and more educational institutions are creating "virtual campuses" in Second Life to be used for distance learning, new student orientation, virtual events, etc.
• Political Use - It is becoming more and more common to see private islands being purchased for political use; some countries, even have embassies in Second Life on their own private islands. Politicians from all over the globe are seen more and more often entering Second Life to campaign for their election, and purchase private islands to serve as their campaign headquarters, an additional point of contact for their constituents, to hold events and fundraisers, etc.
• Group Use - As users can form groups in Second Life, some groups purchase entire private islands and share the initial and monthly cost evenly amongst all members, so as to share the same space while having the comfort that all of their neighbors are members of their particular group, whether for residential or commercial purposes.