virtual

During breaks from caring for her 1-year-old son, Samantha Whipple plays virtual world games on her cellphone. She buys a few outfits for her avatar, spending maybe $30 a month on shoes, jewelry and other virtual merchandise that she'll never hold in her hand. "I'm a stay-at-home mom, so I...

Have you ever wondered who, aside from your mom, buys those $1 birthday-cake icons on Facebook? Turns out millions are willing to spend their hard-earned cash on, well, nothing. Sales on virtual items on Facebook, MySpace, and smaller social networks like Flirtomatic is expected to hit $1 billion...

Gartner, Inc. just came out with a study showing that 90% of business ventures into virtual worlds -- such as Second Life --fail with in 18 months. That means the get-rich-quick scheme of selling imaginary goods for imaginary Linden Dollars (L$) to convert back to real dollars (the current exchange...