Social Networking and Virtual Worlds
Download as PPT, PDF3 likes883 views
The document discusses the emergence and competitive landscape of social networking and virtual worlds, emphasizing the shift towards immersive experiences that could challenge established platforms like MySpace and Facebook. It highlights the role of various companies, including IBM and Google, in developing technologies and standards for these virtual environments, while noting the potential impact on business and society. The text also raises questions about the future of virtual worlds, the need for standardization, and how these platforms can fulfill basic social needs.
Social Networking and Virtual Worlds
- 1. Alan Belniak (RL)/Aybee Quinnell (SL) F Gerard Murphy (RL)/FranG Thursday (SL) Toshi Motoyama (RL)/BabsonMBA Thursday (SL)
- 2. SNS connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them Businesses use SNS for marketing and recruiting Users can easily cross geographical and other borders Ultimately, this could pose a threat to incumbents like MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo — virtual worlds offer slicker, more immersive experiences, which are attractive to the Millennials. -Paul Jackson
- 3. MySpace Emphasis in music/video sharing Owned by News Corp. – $580M July, 2005 Facebook Popular among college students - networking Automatically generates friendship invitations Microsoft buys 1.6% share for $280M (valued at $15B) LinkedIn Great for recruiters and job search Professional uses Others
- 5. Live avatar is clear advantage over legacy chat Friend-making has areas of improvement Friend-of-a-friend (FOAF) Real-world analogies: networking events, exchanging business cards Similar concept of groups Who bears the cost of the group land? Second Life Grid seems great for group collaboration Personalized Space Incumbent SNS provides a personalized page
- 7. Creation of a virtual ‘den’ User starts by creating a public display of limited, non-specific information that relays general identity Once visitors are inside den, they see user’s content based on groups to which visitor has been added or granted access Visitors would not see other content in den This permits ‘selective personality exposure’ to visitors, based on user’s preferences
- 8. Appearance of Second Life avatar could change Multiple avatars could be created and rendered differently to other avatars, dependent upon their user group or other contextual information Example: one user could have a different avatar (and therefore appearance) for people in their Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn groups Could reduce or prevent inadvertent character judging during critical first impression phase
- 9. Companies working on this project include: IBM, Cisco, Google, Linden Lab, Sony, Intel, Multiverse, Microsoft, Motorola, Philips Formed Architecture Working Group Issues include allowing third party providers to provide: web services, identity, security and usability Standards Debate Google Open Social/ Web3d.org/ SL / ECMA / The Metaverse Project Advertising Standards Web 1.0 banner, leaderboard, skyscraper Now, for every world I touch I have to build an avatar. It’s an obstacle to the development and spread of virtual worlds, both in the consumer and corporate space. Colin Parris IBM VP of Virtual World Technology
- 10. IBM views itself as a “transformation leader” Experience with other Open Source Environments Red Hat/Linux First major partner with Linux Systems and Services $6 Billion+ in revenues from OS Selling “storage service” in SL Believes in open standards Once more we have the very strong feeling that this will have a huge impact on business, society and our personal lives, although none of us can quite predict what that impact will be. It will be fascinating to see where this ride takes us in the future. -Irving Wladawsky-Berger Vice president, Technical Strategy and Innovation, IBM
- 11. Fragmentation or consolidation Best to keep worlds separate? Or will standards dominate? “ Reality mining” vs. "Consensual hallucinations" Killer maps: genocide maps, NASA World Winds, romantic spots, geo-tagged flickr, traffic, house hunting, JFK assassination “ Mobile Augmented Reality“: World of Warcraft, xBox Live Can Second Life be both? Fulfils the basic needs of friendship in new ways
- 12. Questions?