JULIS NAVARRO
Staff Writer
Imagine a perfect night scene with gorgeous fashionistas, wild dance clubs bustling with energy, beautifully designed buildings everywhere, and best of all — the hottest music blaring at each turn. Now imagine teleporting to this fabulous world to meet new friends and mingle with celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Maroon 5 and the Pussy Cat Dolls.
What world is this? Well, it’s not technically anywhere in the real world. It is a virtual world called vSide accessible only through the Internet.
While the concept may seem a bit far-fetched, think of vSide as the intermingling of social networking tools such as Facebook with the sophisticated 3-D graphics of the Sims game. The idea of chatting with friends online is nothing new, but vSide adds to the mix a personally customized avatar of yourself and several visually stunning virtual cities. For the numerous Generation Y-ers already signed up and partying away, vSide is the new hang-out for those who prefer the imagined world to reality.
Users simply download the program and create their own accounts. From there, users create their avatar, or character, which will represent them and navigate throughout the cities Raijuku, LaGenoaAires or NewVenezia. The avatar can be a 3-D replica of each user, or a completely different identity with an eccentric look. And since these avatars are constantly clubbing and lounging, it’s only expected that they dress well. Threads are important in vSide, evident in virtual stores for brands such as Roca Wear and Kitson.
Tim Stevens, president and CEO of Doppelganger, Inc., the company that launched vSide, describes the Web site as an “entertainment destination.”
“vSide is the place to party online,” he said. “We have created a context representative of all the coolest clubs and vibrant music. There’s almost a pulse to vSide.”
Stevens said the 300,000 vSide users already signed up spend an average of 12 to 15 hours per month on the site. Power users spend an excess of 25 hours per month.
“There’s a very high level of engagement here,” he said. “It replicates the time you spend hanging out with friends.”
A social calendar guides newbies to big events occurring in vSide. Music is the main attraction in the vSide world, and it is common for musical artists and bands to sign online to interact with mere common folk. Indeed, at any given time, there is bound to be some type of party to attend.
Even the musically-picky individual can find their groove in vSide, since it is comprised of more than 40 music venues and clubs, each programmed with different styles of music, ranging from hip hop to indie and rock to pop.
“It’s interesting, I think it’s a great idea to start a Web site like this,” said junior Randy Setiady. “It’s about interaction, and that’s what people want.”
Setiady said that he would definitely give vSide a try.
“It’s definitely innovative and fun in that you can design your own character and go to virtual neighborhoods to meet real people,” said senior Justin Williams. However, Williams did have some negative feedback, saying that vSide requires users to invest a lot of time to get really involved.
In addition to social networking and music hunting, vSide also feeds the appetite for exploration. Curious users can venture out of the clubs and explore vSide’s crevices and corners. They can even claim their own private spaces if they find any, on a first come, first serve basis. Experienced users can rent apartments and host their own parties when they earn enough “respekt.” Yes, that basically translates to “street cred” in vSide vernacular.
One of the most interesting aspects of vSide is its currency system. Some people gawked at the idea of buying virtual “gifts” on Facebook to send to friends, but it has become more commonplace over time. vSide brings another dimension to this concept of virtual purchasing. Users can purchase “creds,” the vSide currency, at virtual ATMs which are scattered throughout the vSide world. These “creds” can be used to purchase apparel to update an avatar’s wardrobe. Users can also buy guitars, which are played by pressing certain keys on the keyboard, vSide will soon be rolling out several more instruments so buddies can put together their own bands.
According to Stevens, vSide will soon be integrating a loyalty point system called “vPoints,” to award accomplished and helpful users some currency credits. This system was prompted partially by feedback from young users who do not own credits cards.
Despite the elaborate system created by vSide, it is expected that some people will remain wary. Both junior Jennifer Young and freshman Hayley Johnson said they would not use the Web site.
“I’m the type of person who likes to socialize in person,” Young said. “vSide seems to take a step in the opposite direction.”
Johnson echoed the same sentiment. “What’s the point of hanging out online, when you can meet people in real life?” she asked.
But Stevens insists that the virtual world is a wave of the future.
“For young people, there’s not always an opportunity to hang out in real life,” Stevens said. “This generation has grown up with computers as a way to connect to friends. The social evolution we’re starting to see is that there is no distinction between online and physical interaction.”
With worlds designed well beyond reality, fun-seeking people from all over, and a never-ending pulse of music, who needs to step outside when there’s vSide?
03-20-2008
