Still in beta, Matels‘ BarbieGirls.com has 3 million users (since April 2007) with 50,000 signing up every day. As I have read it took SecondLife 3 years to reach that many users. On BarbieGirls you can create yourself a virtual-self in a “Fashion, Fun, Friendship” world. Yay! Of course as you want to wander around and buy your little virtual-self new clothes or adopt a pet for a fee.
What becomes interesting here is that according to Reuters SecondLife News Centre (Feb. 2007) “The average Second Life user is 33, according to self-reported data, with 27.5 percent of active users 18-25, 38.8 percent 25-34, 21 percent 35-44, and 11.5 percent older than 45.” The average age of users on BarbieGirls….well I’m not sure, but I’m guessing their under 18. There is not only BarbieGirls.com, there is a whole collection of interactive sites that expand the brand usages and immerse kids into virtual toy worlds. There is LEGO.com, AmericanGirl.com, Crayola.com, HotWheels.com and Tamagotchi.com.
Our kids are becoming more and more technology savvy, understand and can use it better then most of their parents, but what happens to them. There is already a growing concern that young girls have poor self-esteem comparing themselves to images they see in various magazines. So now I begin to wonder that if I can go online and walk around and talk to others as a 6′, 120lb Amazonian Goddess what does that actually do to my true self-image and esteem? Does it make me more confident? Maybe virtually, but if I have to speak to someone in person who can see that I haven’t stepped off a rain forest cloud can I cope socially. What about a child/teen? I know nothing about psychology, but it did cross my mind today that is so many kids are only exploring virtual worlds, does it help or hinder them in interacting in their true worlds. Will any of this come to haunt them in the future if they can’t cope, interact, speak to others in a social setting? Picture it….100 years from now and the only form of speech is virtual.