Social networking meets virtual worlds

If anyone's wondering if virtual worlds are the next social frontier for teens, they might want to look at the evidence. At least, the evidence of how much one virtual world – Second Life – has infiltrated the "real world" and vice versa:

Calvin Klein launched its virtual perfume in Second Life, VNUNET reports.

US T-shirt maker and retailer American Apparel has a virtual store in Second Life.

Reuters and The Street.com have news bureaus in the virtual world.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow held a rally against the Darfur conflict in January in Second Life, TheStreet.com reports from its bureau there.

A New York art gallery has staged an exhibition of portraits of Second Life's "13 most beautiful" people (a.k.a. avatars), and Australia's Four Corners news show aired a documentary shot mostly within Second Life, Australia's The Age reports.

Cisco, Dell, and IBM have set up shop in the world, "making it the first destination for real-world companies looking to extend their brand into the virtual realm," TheStreet.com reports.

And while Second Life passes the 5 million-resident mark, long-time members with something of a "we were here first" attitude are getting annoyed about the commercialization and all these new avatars walking and flying around, the Los Angeles Times reports - though their message is more about wanting more say in the virtual world's fate. So now there's a "Second Life Liberation Army" blowing up storefronts and saying that "80% of long-term residents support their cause." For more on all this, including the teen part of the equation, pls click to this week's issue of my newsletter.