Following last weeks theme of discussing and then defining social virtual worlds for adults, let's take a look at kids SVW's shall we? The definition we've been using is this. Though I should point out that it's not perfect, and a certain tolerance for games within worlds should probably be applied to kids worlds.
A Social Virtual World has game-like immersion and social media functionality without narrative driven goals. At its core is a sense of presence with others at the same time and place.
The List
I would really appreciate some help in weeding out the ones that don't fit, and picking up any we've missed here. Do let me know what you think in the comments, or on your own blogs.
- Club Penguin
- Whyville
- Cyworld
- Faketown
- Planet Cazmo
- Why Robbie Rocks
- Barbie Girls
- Be-Bratz
- Mokitown
- Dubit
- Gaia Online
- Habbo Hotel
- Playdo
- MTV Worlds
- Second Life Teen Grid
As you can see, there's quite a few more than on the adult list. MTV Worlds are on both lists. They're hard to categorize as they have a foot in both camps, so should probably be on both lists.
I'd hope to halve this list with your help. I'm far less familiar with kids worlds than I am adult, but suspect we have a good deal of pruning to do.
So, tell me what you think...
That's great, thanks Veejay! Are all of those "social virtual worlds" or are some of them game worlds?
I think one has been forgotten which i found is on of the uppcoming and interesting experiences how money can be made in virtual worlds: http://www.goaudition.co.uk/
Audition i think is a very nice concept and will show us a little bitt about the future concepts of interactive TV and so on. And that product is like "BigBrother" because the company Kaizen Games has licenced it in a lot of countrys
Thanks Juergen!
Interesting list. It will be hard to draw the line with them, though. It might be helpfull if you could define what you mean with "Social Virtual Worlds, Junior Edition" ... :) What would be the age band defined as "junior"? And would the upper age limit have to be defined by the company behind the platform or by the age profile of the actual user base?
Some remarks one single worlds on the list:
I would not put CyWorld into a "Junior Edition". This platform has no upper age limit and has users in all age groups - especially in the original south corean edition you will find a large group of people well above age 30.
There.com is a platform with a very similar age profile to the MTV worlds (which are based on the There-engine), with the majority of users in the younger age bands. It is PG, too.
@VeeJay: It would be stretching the definition very far if you would call Stardoll a "virtual world". This is an extremely successful platform targetted (mostly) at young girls. But there is no "world". Only "avatars", that you can dress up :)
One line you can draw for sure -- Whyville is the only site that is primarily about education -- not primarily about marketing. Whyville is not explicitly linked to anything external -- You can draw a pretty clear line between sites that are essentially promoting directly linked off world products (Webkins, MTV worlds, and you can now include Club Penguin in that list with Disney's purchase) and those that stand on their own. The intention of many of these site is to drive users back towards traditional media, instead of using the power and insights of users to change traditional media.
I wish them luck with that.
Jim Bower
CEO Numedeon Inc
Founders of Whyville.net
Hi Jim, thanks for that. I guess that makes whyville in a category of 1 ?
Markus, im not sure where to put an age limit, but it's worth considering. Thanks.
Hi Nick,
Thought you might be interested in this related article ("Defining virtual worlds: An emerging medium collides with popular culture") in the newest online issue of Flow TV.
See: http://flowtv.org/?p=902
The article contends that the four defining characteristics for all computer-based virtual worlds are: immersion, embodiment, co-presence, and persistence. A fifth (but non-essential) characteristic of some virtual worlds is the ability of users to dramatically modify the content and form of the environment.
I'm curious to see how this definition is received, and what modifications others will propose. This really is an exciting time to be engaged in these discussions.
Aaron