Times Online has the latest Nielson numbers on UK internet usage from children, and they don't make for surprising reading: Britain's tweens and teens love virtual worlds.
Stardoll, which last week reached the milestone of 20 million users, is the most popular website with under-12s, with 32% of the audience. For the 12-17 market, mobile social networking tool Frengo was the most popular with 26%, although MMO Runescape came in at a close second with 25%. The numbers:
Under-12s
Stardoll.com: 32%
Club Penguin: 29%
Nick: 25%
12-17s
Frengo: 26%
Runescape: 25%
Bebo: 19%
The reason for the incredible and disproportionate popularity of virtual worlds among younger users remains unclear. One theory is that kids have greater imagination; the same reason that under-12s love cartoons which often bear little resemblance to the real world is why they love inhabiting a world as a penguin. Another is that the younger the person, the more innovative they are prepared to be with their communications. A look at modern communications show that most Brits below 60 (and many over) are happy with email, most below 30 (and many over) are happy with Facebook, more still below 20 are happy with the edgier MySpace and those below 12 are clearly very content with virtual worlds. It is arguable that the older the user, the more conservative they are with their communications, which may mean that virtual worlds may have to wait some time yet before they reach popularity with adults.
Clearly this is a puzzle that developers would like to solve. In a cruel irony, the demographic most enthusiastic about virtual worlds is the hardest to monetise. If the reasons behind VWs' success with younger users can be identified, greater rewards could lie in store. In the meantime, the social web has never had it so good.
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