Hi5’s virtual entertainment plans could hit a virtual jackpot
Because Facebook is the largest, fastest-growing network in the world, a big question is what other social networks are going to do to compete. Hi5, with approximately 60 million monthly unique visitors, is in the process of making itself an "immersive social environment" that includes virtual goods, avatars, games, instant messaging and a 3-D world geared at older teens worldwide. The company plans to make money off of virtual goods - not traditional online advertising.
This means hi5 is pitting itself not so much against Facebook - that site’s fastest-growing user group is older than 30 - but against larger rival MySpace, as well as Friendster, Orkut and a range of local competitors. It is targeting "15 to 24 year old demographic," chief executive Ramu Yalamanchi says, through a set of services designed to provide what he calls "social entertainment." One that it plans to roll out later this month is web-based instant messaging, turning your hi5 friends into instant message contacts - similar to what Facebook and MySpace already offer. But that’s just the first step. It will also be introducing its own games and avatars for users later in the year (where technology from virtual world startup Pixverse, acquired last summer, is being applied). It plans to launch the 3-D world by the end of the year.
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