By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a ’second life’, but not necessarily in Second Life, according to Gartner.
Gartner recommends that enterprises should experiment with virtual worlds, but not plan massive projects, and look for community benefits rather than commerce.
“The collaborative and community-related aspects of these environments will dominate in the future, and significant transaction-based commercial opportunities will be limited to niche areas, which have yet to be clearly identified,†said Steve Prentice, Vice President and distinguished analyst at Gartner.
Gartner has identified five laws for companies participating in the virtual world:
First Law: Virtual worlds are not games, but neither are they a parallel universe (yet)
Second Law: Behind every avatar is a real person
Third Law: Be relevant and add value
Fourth Law: Understand and contain the downside
Fifth Law: This is a long haul
Speaking at Gartner Symposium, Phillip Rosedale, founder and CEO of Second Life said Second Life is developing a voice application that will enable users to overhear others, determine where the voice is coming from and deliver an experience better than the telephone.
Many companies have already set up shop in Second Life, including Circuit City, Dell, IBM, Mercedes, Sun, Reuters and Toyota. IBM is ramping up its push into virtual worlds with an investment of roughly US$10 million over the next year, including an expanded presence within Second Life and the development of its own 3D intranet.
Users spent 15.3 million hours in Second Life in March, 2007, up from 2.7 million hours in March, 2006, and 621,000 hours in March, 2005, according to statistics released by Linden Lab (though the numbers are questioned by many analysts). Europeans make up the largest block of Second Life residents with more than 54 percent of active users in January ahead of North America’s 34.5 percent.
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Hi, My name is Narayanan and i'm your resident blogger. Technology and internet have always fascinated me and that's the reason behind the origin of this blog. Thanks for visiting Tech Spikes :)
My take on this is slightly more cynical and pragmatic…
Virtual worlds, communities and nations are here to stay. Whilst emerging media is exploring new ways for companies to interact with their target audience, businesses must be careful not see this as another outlet where they aggressively sell.
Users go these sites often as a form of escapism and would probably take a negative reaction where vendors try and conflict with this. However, this can be done well - take Toyota selling their cars on Second Life as a great example of complementing a virtual world rather than fighting it.
Even though Gartner do suggest this is a “long haulâ€, there is a lot to be said for being early entrants into a market. My advice would be to start now but passively.
Also - don’t get hung up on the main avenues. Technology is changing fast - who knows what new scenario will be the best place to virtually hang-out in a few years time. Have a plan that is flexible and go for it.
Nevertheless, Gartner have made some sound suggestions that would be foolish for any would-be vendor in the virtual world not to follow… but perhaps they should use mine too.
My post backs this up