Second Life's charm offensive is reaching epic proportions. Back in January, Valleywag emeritus Nick Denton noticed a rather disturbing trend: mounting Second Life hype. For three years after the virtual world's launch in June 2003, it remained, thankfully, widely ignored. But a BusinessWeek cover story on the first virtual millionaire, with the help of a workhorse PR agency, spurred a record 700 mentions, including press releases, as tracked in the Lexis-Nexis news database. Coverage has failed to abate, despite highly questionable user numbers and failed marketing campaigns. Why?

Mentions climbed steadily from December 2006 through March 2007, fueled by tales of avatar sex. The climax in May and June was due to the hubbub about businesses entering Second Life. At this point, Second Life mentions seem set to snowball. Whether or not Second Life maker Linden Lab ends up being a business success, it's managed to make its creation a shorthand for virtual-world hype.