Virtual World Mind Dump
I woke up this morning and the first thing I saw on the web was this blog post from Mitch Joel talking about virtual worlds and it got my mind rolling as I brought the kids to school. When I got home rather then sharing my thoughts in a blog post I thought it would make a better podcast so I could just rattle off my thoughts about how the usability of virtual worlds must get better, how kids are growing up on them and how more people need to start thinking about virtual worlds as social networks.
Some links mentioned on the show in case you want to find out more:
I also briefly mentioned at the end of the show two client projects we are working with on Facebook. One was the online trivia game from Trivya and the other was the aerie kissing booth.
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Thanks C.C. - obviously my interest is now piqued. I’m going to take a listen
After working with many marketing VP’s, I hear UX comparison to Webkinz all the time. It makes sense, the user interface just makes sense, visitors don’t need to think about where they need to click. Thus better experience and allows them to spend more time in areas of interest. I expect to see more of these types of user interfaces as high def experiences and media centers hit the living room, like the Sony Home you mentioned.
One of the biggest and most influential virtual worlds/ social networking sites has to be Second Life. Brands make themselves known there. Bands stage performances there. Even users can become real life millionaires if they know their way around business 2.0. At the same time, I also think it’s best to tread carefully and not to allow these innovations to control us.
I agree. These virtual worlds are social networking. And our kids will go up with this new setting. Technology is changing so quickly and I am keeping up with my kids. Webkinz world is our favorite place and we have fun there as a family. Loving it.