IMVU Reaches 20M Users, Virtual Economy Still Strong

IMVU's 3D virtual chat world has been around for nearly four years, and has recently reached the 20 million registered user milestone. Launching with avatars that can chat on its IM client in a virtual 3D environment, IMVU began to grow popular at the onset of a swelling interest in web-based virtual communities.

Similar to Second Life, IMVU also has a secondary focus on the people-powered economy where users can buy and sell virtual goods, some of which they've created themselves. It's this virtual market that has grown right alongside IMVU's population, reaching over 1.5 million items to date. IMVU credits viral growth, its economy, and its ability to offer a niche environment for a wide range of users, from Anime fans to Goth and Latino.

Admittedly, the IMVU's often glitter-covered environment is one that I've grown out of for the most part, but I recognize the importance of its virtual world. As we've seen in the past two years or so, the web-based virtual environment has really taken off, with many communities, like Meez and WeeWorld launching virtual worlds from their initial avatar offering.

And as Second Life, which reportedly has about 7 million less users than IMVU, hopes to reverse its growth slump in the coming years with improved technology and networks, the trend towards combining avatars with a recognizable and familiar chat environment is one that works quite well across the board.

---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:

IMVU Beta - 3D Instant Messaging
MyDataBus Reaches 100,000 Users
Multiply Reaches 5 Million Users
FamilyBuilder Hits 10M Profiles, Links Trees Across Facebook, MySpace, Bebo
Save MySpace with SaveYourSpace - 5 Days Left
Meebo Named Fastest Growing IM Client
Wikipedia Passes Another Milestone: 10 Million Articles

http://mashable.com/2008/06/24/imvu-milestone/

--
This article was sent using my Viigo.
For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------
This transmission (including any attachments) may contain confidential information, privileged material (including material protected by the solicitor-client or other applicable privileges), or constitute non-public information. Any use of this information by anyone other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately reply to the sender and delete this information from your system. Use, dissemination, distribution, or reproduction of this transmission by unintended recipients is not authorized and may be unlawful.