The UX of Social Media

Chapter 2.5 of:

Abuse, Sex and Addiction in Online Communities
Copyright Lee Baldwin 2009
@ArtOfSilence

The reason to be for Second Life, IMVU, Maple Story, Bratz, Habbo Hotel and most of the others is to make money. Which is a good thing. But through that lens, a particular new Internet trend (or phenomenon) appears: the sale of virtual goods.

What are virtual goods? One category is any asset or perk a chat player can buy for use with their online avatar: clothing, hairstyles, rooms, furniture, poses, music and so on. The goods are virtual because they are available only within the context in which they are used.

It makes sense that clothing such as a leather jacket for instance is available only in the 3D world where it is sold, but music is sold the same way. You might have a tune on your iPod, or on a CD, but if you want to hear it (and have others hear it) in your favorite chatroom you are going to have to buy it again. If you play in more than one chatroom, guess what – you will be forced to buy the same tune again.

VG sales are the latest major bubble in ‘monetization’ of the online experience, and the US market for virtual goods is near $1 Billion, a near 100% growth from last year, with another 80% growth expected in 2010. Some 11 million Americans buy VG products each month, and most of the purchases are made by women.

That is real cash for… real pixels.

The Asian market is $7 Billion, and in China, VG revenues are greater than on-line ad revenues. Stay tuned…