the rise of online communities - Warcraft hits 6 million users
There is no doubt that marketers and probably more importantly their Agencies are going to have to get their heads around the growth of online communities as more and more people spend time online rather than in front of the TV.
Aside from Flickr, myspace etc it is worth noting the tremendous growth of online gaming communities where people can cast themselves as their preferred alter ego in massive fantasy environments. If proof was needed Warcraft has announced that it has 6 million active, paying subscribers worldwide.
These stunning numbers–which lately have climbed by nearly 500,000 users per month–are due to the aggressive courtship of a broad, international audience. A press release trumpets the fact that the critically-acclaimed game will be translated to the Spanish language for European players, possibly opening the door for a Spanish-language US version of World of Warcraft down the road.
Seems that the media department had better start understanding how all this works!