5.
Technology analyst group Gartner recently asserted that “80% of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 companies) will have a ‘second life’, but not necessarily in Second Life” by 201. Gartner is referring to “people who are heavyweight Net users.” The estimate is actually that 50-60 million Net users will participate in a virtual world by 2011. Consider the current largest existing worlds, including South Korea’s Cyworld with 20 million uniques, World of Warcraft with its 8 million subscribers, and Europe’s Habbo Hotel with its own 7 million regular users. Lisa Cosmas Hanson of Chinese game market analyst, Niko Partners, estimates 26 million online world users by 2011 in China alone. Other contributing factors are: (1) Upward growth rates of existing worlds and social networks like MySpace; (2) Usage patterns of current online world users (“Especially in the teen and young adult area…”); (3) General computer game usage; (4) Penetration and growth of Internet-enabled notebooks in this generation and spread of easily accessible wireless Internet; and (5) Involvement by major firms like IBM in virtual worlds, coupled to metaverse consulting groups to serve them there. This reflects both a growing interest from their client base, and will result in growing pressures and competencies to accelerate the move by corporate users into the virtual worlds’ space.
Associated Topic: Amplified Organization > Collective Sensemaking
Tags: census, demographics, research, technology,
Added: December 9, 2008