This Friday’s edition of WSJ featured an article about how SECOND LIFE – a virtual 3D world created by Linden Lab with 100,000s of players (Second Life claims 300,000+, WSJ mentions 700,000+) – generated a market for virtual goods which are sold for real dollars. The article focuses on virtual fashion sold in SECOND LIFE and introduces people making a living as fashion designer working on virtual collections to dress the “avatars” as virtual characters are known. Even real-world retailers and brands such as American Apparel and adidas already have setup their presence in SECOND LIFE’s virtual world. The creative process of virtual fashion design is related to real fashion design and considerations such as intellectual property protection become increasingly involved when real money is involved.
Another example for real money in a virtual world is CYWORLD, a social network site which has been widely successful in Korea. More than 90% of Korean residents in their twenties signed up to the site. Many of them actively maintain their “minihompy” – an individual homepage setup as a virtual 3-D world which can be populated with virtual characters (“minime’s”) and other gadgets. To customize their individual homepages with design features and functionalities, users pay small amounts comparable to the cost of downloading wallpapers, games, and ringtones for mobile phones. Outside of Korea, CYWORLD has launched in Japan, China, Taiwan, and the U.S.A.
With social networking sites establishing as the most important channel for interaction for the young generation, I would expect to see more virtual marketplaces like the examples discussed above. Bold fashion statements suddenly become mainstream…
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