On the Convergence of Virtual Worlds and Social Networking Sites

We're starting to see a convergence of virtual worlds and social networking sites in the new wave of virtual "social" worlds (e.g., Kaneva, vSide, Virtual MTV) and new 3D Facebook applications (ActiveWorlds, Gaia Online). This might be dismissed as fad. After all, everyone is either trying to replicate or piggyback on the success of America's #3 (MySpace) and #9 (Facebook) top-visited websites. World of Warcraft's 10 million users is impressive indeed, but MySpace has 30 times that. However, I think there is more to a convergence than mere hype. I see some interesting similarities and possible synergies between virtual worlds and social networking sites but also some important differences that could make integration tricky.

1. Virtual worlds already ARE social networking sites of a sort.

Virtual worlds and MMOs enable you to interact and play with friends online, add new people to your buddy list, monitor their online status and in some cases view their custom profiles. But there are important differences between World of Warcraft and Second Life on the one hand, and MySpace and Facebook on the other. First, virtual worlds not only provide social networking features, they also provide the world in which you meet people and play with them. The social networking features tend to be secondary to the simulated world itself. In contrast, social networking sites provide only the profiles and buddy lists, not the world. Second, the social networking features (i.e., buddy lists and profiles) of social networking sites are more sophisticated than those of most virtual worlds. Their profiles have more features, provide greater self-expression and enable more ways to play asynchronously. For example, all social networking sites enable you to show off your "friends" and leave public comments for them. They also let you post all kinds of media to your profile and see what your friends are doing through RSS feeds. Virtual worlds have not traditionally enabled these features although we're starting to see it in newer worlds like Kaneva, vSide and Virtual MTV. Third, the social networking features of virtual worlds are designed for the relationships you form with other players in that virtual world, not in the real world or other virtual worlds. So the social networking features are not designed for a general population like MySpace (they're more like Facebook back when it was limited to your particular university). Fourth, virtual worlds are designed primarily for maintaining relationships with friends when you are both in-world at the same time, that is, synchronously. You can interact and play with your friends in rich ways through your avatars or send them "tells" anytime from anywhere in the virtual world, but once they're offline, about all you can do is send them an email (if you can find a mail box). There is minimal support for asynchronous relationship management and, as a result, players typically go outside the game to set up guild forums where they can have profiles, public rosters, calendars and threaded asynchronous discussions.

2. Social networking sites provide profiles and buddy lists for your WHOLE life, not just your virtual one.

While virtual communities have long enjoyed profiles and buddy lists, MySpace, Facebook and other sites now provide this asynchronous social networking functionality for ANYONE in your life. As you meet people anywhere, you can add them as "friends" and then exchange public comments, share media and monitor updates to their profiles. For friends who have moved away geographically, social networking sites are a great way to keep in touch or reconnect at a distance. For people you've met briefly at a party or conference, social networking sites can be a great way to get to know each other better.

Now social networking sites seem to be most popular for managing relationships with people you meet and know "in real life"; however, they are also sometimes used for making online-only "friends." You can surf the profiles of millions of strangers and invite the ones you find interesting to join your buddy list. Then you can exchange public comments on profiles or photos and receive status updates and bulletins. This kind of addictive profile surfing and "friending" is possible on MySpace due to the massive size of its user base and its open access (Facebook still highly restricts which profiles you can see) and is more commonly engaged in by boys (and no doubt men) for purposes of flirting according to Pew (big shock!).

So it’s not surprising that social networking sites (SNSs) are so much more popular than virtual worlds. Because they are so generic, social networking sites have the potential to become as ubiquitous as email. But there are a few other important factors. First, SNSs put very small requirements on your time because the social interaction is asynchronous. Surfing profiles, adding friends, adding content, leaving messages, etc. are all interruptible activities and can be done a couple minutes at a time. "Instance runs," pick-up groups and even just synchronous chat conversations require much longer continuous blocks of time. Second, SNSs are very lightweight applications. Anyone with an internet connection and a web browser can run them. You don't have to worry about graphics cards, RAM, hefty downloads or firewalls. Third, SNSs are totally free to use, which is often key among young people.

3. On social networking sites you play yourself, while in virtual worlds, you play someone else (well sort of).

In virtual worlds, you generally play a character who has a name, sex, level (rather than age), race, class (rather than job) and a particular (avatar) appearance, which may be very, very different from that of your real-world persona. After all, behind one out of every two female characters is a male player. Whereas on social networking profiles, you tend to post your own name, sex, age, race, job and photos of yourself. These profiles act as windows into people's "real lives." They have created a new kind of online narcissism and voyeurism, which have proven to be wildly popular.

So the personae you present in virtual worlds and on social networking sites tend to be very different. However, in practice, there is a great deal of overlap. Most users in virtual worlds actually "play themselves" in the way they chat; true "role playing" of fantasy characters is somewhat rare. And even on social networking sites there are "fakesters" and role players (e.g., of celebrities). More commonly, users will lie about their age, omit their marital status or display a 10-year-old photo of themselves. So both in virtual worlds and on social networking sites, users play along a continuum of self presentation from real life to fantasy.

Is it a good idea to combine virtual worlds and social networking sites?

#1 and #2 above lead me to say "yes!" There are certainly potential synergies between the avatar-based socializing of virtual worlds and the profile-based socializing of social networking sites. I want to interact with my friends both when we're in-world together and when we're not. But #3 gives me some pause. Virtual worlds are a rare medium of social interaction that can enable you to transcend your real-world social statuses. If you’re "old," "ugly," "poor," "married," etc., you can nonetheless become highly popular through your charm, wit, game skill, avatar-customization skill, etc. But if your real-world persona is connected to your 3D avatar via a profile, you will be much less able to transcend it. Is this bad? Good? Will we lose the very thing that makes virtual worlds most attractive (at least to the unattractive)?

In a somewhat different vein, I read an Associated Press article recently that commented on the mixing of generations that’s starting to occur on social networking sites as they go main stream. It suggests that cross-generation interaction in this context is "creepy" or "like a 40-year-old at the prom or frat party." Eek! Yet attitudes toward virtual worlds seem quite different even though you often get similar cross-generation interaction. A raid with participants ranging in age from 16 to 60 is generally seen as pretty cool. The difference is no doubt due in part to the fact that you never really know the age or sex or race or sexual orientation or marital status of the person you're playing with. It may also be due to the fact that in MMOs, users are often interacting in the context of playing a game together, rather than simply gawking at party photos. Should your real-life characteristics be revealed in order to help manage this "creep factor"? Should cross-generation interaction be discouraged? Encouraged?

How should virtual worlds and social networking sites be integrated, if at all?