The biggest thing online at the moment is social networking. Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace are hugely popular, with millions of members from around the world. Facebook, for example, currently has over 50 million users and is growing at a meteoric rate. But what’s the next big trend online going to be? That, as they say, is the billion-dollar question.
Web experts are predicting that 3-D virtual communities are the wave of the future. Forbes.com quotes a study by the Gartner research group that predicts a staggering 80% of regular Internet users will take part in a 3-D online community by the year 2011. That amounts to an astounding 250 million people.
These predictions have not gone unnoticed by the biggest players in the industry, and advertising agencies are already chomping at the bit for a chance to get their message in front of such a huge potential market of Internet users. But what will be 3-D social networking communities of tomorrow look like?
Many analysts predict that online communities of tomorrow will feature virtual worlds similar to the biggest online multiplayer games out today, such as World of War Craft. This could mean that, instead of reading the day’s headlines on your homepage, your avatar (a 3-D character representing you) could be reading them instead in a virtual world.
Plans are already in the works for virtual malls, nightclubs, bookstores and other commercial ventures, as well as sponsored virtual concerts and book tours. In fact, many of these virtual items are already being used in virtual worlds such as Second Life. So how will the virtual social networking communities of tomorrow be different from Second Life (which already has 11 million registered users) and other 3-D worlds already in place today?
The biggest difference is likely to be accessibility. As technology advances, the 3-D virtual worlds of tomorrow will be easier to function within than those currently unavailable. Another difference is that the 3-D worlds currently online are appealing to a very specific demographic. Mostly either serious gamers, or those who wish to escape to a fantasy world.
But the social networking 3-D sites are likely to be much more grounded in reality. Think of Facebook profile pages connected to a 3-D environment in which you and your friends could “hang out” in an online virtual world.
One web site, Kaneva, is already jumping on the 3-D social networking bandwagon. On Kaneva, users create virtual “homes” instead of profile pages, and can upload their favorite photos, music and videos to their online home to share with friends. Kaneva also has its own currency they can be used to buy or sell virtual goods and services within the online world.
So far, virtual worlds have been the domain of the geeks among us, but as social networking creeps into virtual reality, we are likely to see a huge shift taking place online. The MySpace or Facebook of tomorrow will likely be a place where you socialize naturally within a virtual 3-D environment — and it won’t be limited to just computer nerds, gamers and fantasy world enthusiasts.
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