Virtual world populations continue to grow
Remember when virtual worlds were in the press what seemed like every day? Well, that day has long since passed, but it appears that has had absolutely no impact on their ability to continue to recruit new members.
There used to be a time where it felt like you couldn’t pick up a newspaper without finding yet another story about how popular virtual world Second Life was full of sexual deviants, and people only went there to live out their bizarre sex fantasies. Well, Second Life finally sequestered the sex games to their own section of the virtual world and the number of stories plummeted. Virtual worlds disappeared into obscurity and were forgotten by just about everyone… or were they?
The Guardian is reporting that consultancy firm kzero.co.ukhas released numbers that show membership of virtual worlds grew a staggering 39 percent in the second quarter of this year. The largest growth is coming from young females, and some sites are reporting just astoundingly high membership numbers:
- poptropica.com – aimed at five- to 10-year-olds – 76 million registered users
- Habbo – aimed at 10- to 15-year olds – 135 million registered users
- Neopets - aimed at 10- to 15-year olds – 54 million registered users
- Star Dolls - aimed at 10- to 15-year olds – 34 million registered users
- Club Penguin - aimed at 10- to 15-year olds – 28 million registered users
Users between the ages of 15-and-25-years-old drop significantly, but it still rates in the tens of millions. Admittedly it is difficult to determine how many of these registered users are actually active at any given time, and it is estimated that only a small percentage of Second Life’s 19 million users are actively participating at any given time.
It is mind boggling to think this many people have registered for these sites, and with them starting off at such young ages now, boring old Facebook with its static pages and such, is just not going to cut it as these kids grow up. It may not happen any time soon, but everyone better be ready for an onslaught of new features as social networks try to keep up with the kids of today.
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July 31st, 2009
I log into SecondLife at least once a day. I may not be logged in on my main account though. There are times I do things with alternate accounts used for different jobs.
I am not a ‘young girl’ at all & find that SecondLife is more than just a social 3D network. It is a way of life, work, learning & communication. The people I count as friends log in mostly everyday.
It really depends on what one is looking for as to which virtual world fills that need. That’s the beauty of the whole idea, you don’t like it one world, just find another. Not something one can do in real life.
July 31st, 2009
It’s true virtual world become the new life of all gamers. Like me, I mostly enjoy my stay on World of Warcraft for it is tremendous fun to connect with people around the world.