3D Worlds and Socialising on the Net / Week 8

Today we have been asked to compare 3D messengers with the traditional Instant messenger programs. I looked at Active Worlds which is a 3D chat world environment that looks like a cross between a computer game, and a regular chat room. First I chose a nickname then went into a park like location as a tourist where there were lots of other people who I could walk up to using the arrows on the keyboard and "talk" to. My character could also go swimming, and what people were saying was printed above their heads.

This 3D messenger is unlike anything I have ever experienced before, and is completely different to the MSN messenger which I normally use. The socialising in traditional messenger forms is more one on one with only the particular person you wish to speak to, and it is more private as other people cant see you conversations. In the 3D new messenger there are more people involved in conversations and you can see other peoples conversations, just by "walking" up to them. It is also more visual, with this technique conforming to more recent new communication technologies. The text which is used in MSN messenger and the 'smilies' seem lame compared to the virtual world you enter in Active Worlds.

I can not see virtual messengers such as Active Worlds completely taking over the tradition messenger style, however with the rapid pace of new communication technologies who knows where this will take us...