A recent study released be Nielsen highlights the fact that 22% of all time spent online is on social media networks (some more than others). So what exactly are the big three when it comes to social media giants? Drum roll please… YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook. The number continues to climb and currently three-quarters of all global consumers who are online spend time on social networking sites.
Image courtesy of Nielsen
I’d like to start this blog entry off with a disclaimer: I am not a programming guru. So with that in mind bear with me as I take you on a short overview of my thoughts on the future of HTML5, Flash and Apple. Flash is often thought to be buggy (hence the decision for Apple to not support it). But with the advent of HTML5 on the way, one must wonder what the future of Flash will be. HTML5 can now be defined as the new standard of the web. Flash, which seemed to be the key to viewing the majority of multimedia based web content seems to be kicked to the curb. A multi-million dollar gaming industry has been built from the ground up based around Flash as the foundation, so without the use of Flash what could this mean to all of the gamers? Flash may still be the default platform for gamers, however HTML5 could (likely will) give Flash a run for the money. Although HTML5 will take some time to build momentum to reach where Flash is today.
With the recent announcement of Linden Labs (you know the company behind Second Life) to begin restructuring, one must wonder what the future has in store for our friends. Does this really translate to the end of all the hype surrounding virtual worlds? Well as most of you know that follow this blog, I have long predicted the VW hype to trend downward. The news that Linden Labs will more actively pursue browser-based virtual worlds, doesn’t really surprise me (our CEO has been beating them up on this for some time). It seems as though this future for VW’s is inevitable, in my opinion it’s not a matter of if, just when. The large client download that virtual worlds tend to entail does not entice the critics nor skeptics, however once browser-based virtual worlds become more of a reality, those skeptics may be hard pressed to not change their minds.
The second announcement from LL entailed the fact that SL may become more integrated with social networking, again not a big surprise to most as I and many others have been predicting this for a while. With the meteoric rise of social networking the past few years, I believe this only to be a natural progression in the right direction.
What happens if Linden shuts down the enterprise sector of the company? Why wouldn’t companies go for the enterprise edition of Second Life? The opportunity for Second Life to be big is still there, despite the downturn of the hype cycle that exists now. If Linden Lab is able to introduce a valuable social networking integration within a virtual world, many may adapt to the idea and become believers. As for the browser-based usability access of a VW, if it is done right it has great potential. Time will tell if Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, has the ability to re-capture believers and reel in the skeptics.
LouiseBrooks theme byThemocracy
