We’re talking a lot these days about Second Life and other virtual worlds, and the recent AdAge Digital Next blog post Mom, Can I Have My Virtual Allowance? demonstrates why: "the vast majority of [the 100 million people in virtual worlds] are kids and teens." That means in five or ten years, kids who grew up with Club Penguin and Webkinz and World of Warcraft will expect to spend time in virtual environments. Our clients need to know how to meet them there.
Reuben Steiger’s post goes on, "Collectively, the kids in this "mall" are spending over $1.5 billion on avatars, clothing, pets and the like. That’s real money on virtual stuff." It’s real money on stuff now largely created by the virtual world operators, but that will shift over time, especially in adult- rather than child-oriented worlds. Because Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, says content creators own the rights to items they build, most things in that world are built by residents, including corporations and nonprofits that have chosen to move in and join the community. That kind of system will become more wide-spread over time.
So what organizations will be able to interact successfully with supporters in future virtual worlds? Those that begin to get involved now will have an enormous advantage. It takes some trial and error to avoid stepping on residents’ toes, and it takes time to learn to build both items and campaigns. We’re excited to be helping our clients hold events and launch their own spaces in Second Life, and we look forward to virtual worlds’ population growth and resulting impact.
