I’m doing research around how different ages using social networks, communities, and virtual worlds by age, and will compile this list as it grows. I’m looking for established community sites that are mature enough to work with brands.

There is already so much coverage on mainstream social networks like Bebo, MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn that we forget about the other smaller niche networks. First, understand technographics (how ages use social media 18+) by accessing Forrester’s profile tool, available for free.

If you know the demographics for any of these, please leave a comment.

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Youth
I’m primarily seeking communties that are under 18, beyond just MySpace.

Club Penguin, Disney
8-12, Virtual World

Stardolls
Young Girls 10-17, Social Network, virtual dolls

Barbie Girls
6-16, Virtual World

WeeWorld
Youth, Avatar based Social network

Zookazoo
6-10 year olds, Virtual World

Club Penguin, Disney
8-12, Social network, virtual dolls

Gaia
Teens, Virtual World

Habbo Hotel
European Youth, Virtual World

Cyworld
South Korean youth, (and now global), virtual/social network

Neopets
Youth, Virtual Pets

Pixie Hollow, Disney
Young Girls, Virtual Pet

Teen Second Life
Teen, Virtual World

Webkinz
Youth, Virtual World

Piczo
Teens, Social Network

Dizzywood
Youth, Virtual World/games

Shining Stars, by Russ
Youth, ‘name a star’

Puzzle Pirates
Youth, Gaming, Virtual World

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50+
Now of course, boomers and retired are also going to be on lifestyle social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, but I’m seeking examples that are focused in on reaching these folks.

Eons
50+, Social Network

BOOMj
50+, Social Network

Tee Bee Dee
Boomers, Social Network

AARP
Boomers, Social Network

There’s a larger list of Boomer sites, many I’ve not heard from.

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Departed
Someone suggests this in the comments in Friendfeed, makes sense.

Legacy
Respectance
Tributes.com
SweetMemoriesSite
ChristianMemorials
PreciousMemoriesAndMore

For what it’s worth, I hope this blog lives on past my time here.

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Related Resources

Danah Boyd has a great PDF on Youth and Social Networks (PDF)

Many reports (260) on Forrester site tagged youth

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A few days ago, I posted some videos on how social networks enter pop culture, a few folks like left some comments, here’s a few related vids:

Second Life: The Real World Movie

Facebook Anthem (From Rachel Beer)

Internet Party 2: An Intervention for MySpace (suggestive) (see the first one) (From Ed Healy)

Then finally, if you want to see a behind the scenes video of Mark Zuckerberg and Larry and Sergey having one too many beers, check out this video.

Enjoy the weekend, I’m going offline, been a long, long week, coast to coast in 2.5 days –to the beach!

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Above: Screenshots from Club Penguin (2006) to purchase virtual pets. Many children would ask their parents to spend their real world allowance in virtual Club Penguin to decorate their igloo. There’s real money to be made too, as Disney purchase Club Penguin for $700,000,000 just a few months ago.

Last week, In Hong Kong, I gave a presentation about Virtual worlds and social media to some of Asia’s top investors. A few folks had a hard time understanding the concept of virtual goods, after speaking with Susan Wu, there are a handful of virtual goods that can be sold. She told me that there are three categories of Virtual Goods:

The Three Categories of Virtual Goods (from Susan Wu)

1 Behavioral goods (such as gifting)
2 Decorative goods (like self-expression)
3 Functional goods, (like wielding a swords that grants super powers)

These goods mean a great deal to the players that inhabit these worlds, and in many respects almost all social systems have goods (bloggers have technrorati, podcasters have downloads).
[Virtual Goods, although intangible, have been assigned personal and social value that members of a virtual world will hold it’s worth ]
For many, it’s hard to imagine that anyone would buy these things, but she also stated that such gifts were already being exchanged in Facebook, from hugs, food fights, gifts, and in a way, even the dreaded poke.

[Virtual goods, and luxury items in real life are very similiar; we’ve placed personal and social value on them, often without any additional physical utility]

In fact, there are entire industries in China that collect gold from World of Warcraft and other games, they then sell this virtual gold on the free market for US dollars. I had dinner with one of the CEOs over a year ago in San Jose.

I gave the analogy that until humans cease in giving luxury goods like Fashion Designer purses or high end watches, then virtual goods will continue on. How does that analogy work? Humans have placed personal and social value on high end gifts (like a diamond ring) that doesn’t serve a higher utilitarian purpose of a cheaper counterpart, then we’ve assigned a ‘virtual’ value to these luxury items. In it’s essence, a handbag from Gucci or Payless will serve the same purpose. Sure, some of the materials may be more rare, or cost more to produce, but that doesn’t equal to higher utility.

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(Left: I created a virtual Jowyang, complete with spiky black hair)

Habbo is a web based play world, a better description than a virtual game, a cross-combination of Cyworld, and a neopet, much in the spirit of Club Penguin, which I was experimenting with in 2006. The graphics are simple 2-D bite based graphics, it’s a cute design.

I dipped into Habbo world after reading James Wagner Au’s excellent coverage of this new virtual experience, Weekend Feature: The How of Habbo Hotel, see other conversations. I created a new character, started a very spartan room (but have not earned enough coins to add furniture) and saw groups, games and met others. The room I created? The web strategy room of course.

I found the country segmentation interesting, this will help to create separate communities around cultures, there’s certainly a nationalistic spirit as members can purchase national flags to sport and wave.

What’s fascinating is he Habbo coins, which are a virtual currency, which can help buy and sell virtual items that don’t exist in real life. Since members can continue to create their own spaces, and perhaps goods, it’s a self-perpetuating economy. It appears this world is aimed at 8-18 year olds, on a global basis, there’s advertising opportunities. I’ll try to get my hands on some demographic and media information, that would help me to better understand the opportunity. Other interesting events include a film award, which is awarding members who create their own films within Habbo world.

My take? While there are many virtual worlds appearing, (see this growing list) it’s still too early to tell who will be a dominant winner, it’s an emerging industry, I predict that these worlds will start to segment by culture and demographic, and the savvy worlds will grow as their demographic ages. I took some screenshots, to save you from registering, creating a character, and learning the navigation. As I get more information, I’ll post details.

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I was just emailed by the PR group at Club Penguin, they were just acquired by Disney. Apparently it’s for $700 million?

I’ve been watching Club Penguin before it started to get mainstream, in fact I even played around, and built my own little Igloo. Social networks arn’t just for teens, young kids are using them too.

KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA and BURBANK, Calif. – Aug 1, 2007 – As a part of its strategy for long-term growth through applying new technologies to the creation and global distribution of high-quality family entertainment, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has acquired Club Penguin, one of the fastest-growing online virtual worlds for kids. The addition of Club Penguin to Disney’s existing online assets will further strengthen the company’s objective of establishing clear leadership in online virtual worlds for kids and families.

Can you smell bubble? That amount of money is just ridiculous. What’s so compelling about it? Kids are using their allowance money to buy virtual goods in the game.

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Intel, who’s a client for video and audio podcasts, took me on a tour of their newest addition to their Second Life island. This was a true brand experience, that infused the Intel message with a quest to find three parts; A jet pack, and two Intel chips to power it. Why jetpacks? They represent speed, agility, and flexibility. Those who complete the quest can use this jetpack to fly higher than most and fly quickly through Second Life , for geeks like me, it’s bragging rights for the second world and first.

Tim who focuses on the gaming market at Intel toured myself, Adam who’s reporting from Reuters. (You know Reuters is taking Second Life seriously), and a few others.

This “Journey to the heart of Intel Island” was unlike other simulations, it was multi-dimensional. There are elevators that let users move down several layers underground, as well as above a strategically placed tower. You’ll find cross branding events with Orange County Choppers, and a virtual music concert. At one concert hall you can watch videos of the multiply yourself campaign, but this time it features Second Life avatars, great cross-over.

The experience is rich as flying laptops are pets, they provide additional on-brand messages and quest tips.

There are multiple venues to explore in the simulation, from an underground life size chip, to a conference area, to a concert area, this is a multi-purpose environment. What’s most interesting is that Second Life citizens will have to ask a jetpack owner where they got the jetpack, it’s a brilliant word-of-mouth campaign. But don’t ask me for tips, you gotta give it your own try, for some it will take some time to find the pieces, (maybe even 30 minutes) but it’s emotionally satisfying when you earn it.

Thanks Intel, and MRM Worldwide/McCann Erickson (Updated July 25th: I forgot to include some of the folks who helped out on this) who was the agency who developed the Island along with developers Millions of Us. Ogilvy, the PR agency and Intel invited me for the sneak preview when the doors opened at 9am today. This was a unique interactive brand quest that left me feeling that by getting the chips would empower the virtual experience better, it make sense.

I was asked for my feedback, and I said it would be interesting if the simulation would create a floating island high above that’s only accessible by the jet pack. Heck, take me to the moon or a new planet!

If you’re a corporation in SecondLife, I’d love to hear about it, let me know, my email address is on the top right.

The Private Tour starts

Tie ins with Orange County Choppers

Just got my jetpack, but it’s unpowered

Getting on elevator

Second Life avatars dance to “mutliply yourself”, very clever cross-branding

Deep inside the Island, this is one of the first simulations to be multi-level

Concert Hall and Auditorium

Yes, I got the final chip, and my jetpack is powered (notice full green bars on pack)

Summary
I’ve seen a few corporate Second Life islands, this one is well thought out and is a good example of opt-in brand immersion, for corporations that want to enter this space, take note, this is a good case study.

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I did a review of the Social Site Club Penguin, and am still amazed at the activity it’s generated. You can read the review, there’s an amazing amount of comments –the stats reflect strong activity there as well. More comments may be coming in there, but I’m not using blogger tool very frequently. If you do a google search on “Club Penguin Review” (which I’ll expect many parents to do before they let their children use it) I display as the second result.

What amazes me is the amount of views on this Club Penguin photo I have in flickr –over 7000!

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I recently wrote a post on Club Penguin and am amazed at the response of comments that I’m getting. Apparently, parents are doing research on this social networking site for 8-14 year olds, and are going to my blog to learn more.

I wasn’t intending this to be a review to arm parents (as I consider my core audience to be web and marketing folks) but am glad nonetheless.

I even was contacted by the Club Penguin management team, (parents, cops, and friends too) both via email and in my comments. Check out the post here as I review Web Strategy: Social Networking site for 8-14 year olds –Club Penguin.

Apparently if you Google “Club Penguin Review” I come up second. (at least during this Sunday evening). The Club Penguin management team is doing good by engaging parents here on my blog.

Lastly, I applaud parents that are taking an active involvement in their children’s online experience (as they should with their offline as well). I’m pleased to be a service to the online community.

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