SceneCaster.com: The moment virtual world's go mainstream?

The virtual world is coming to a facebook page or a blog near you (and as soon as they find a place for me on the beta public test I'll demo it!).

There's a real buzz growing up around SceneCaster.com. I'll resist the urge to add it to my 'one's to watch' until I've actually had a play.

But non-stop-digital-news blogger Robert Scoble is raving - and it does seem to open up some interesting new possibilities.

I have to say I do like the disaggregated, user-distribution model they're using (like youtube's widgets). So SceneCaster should 'play' on this or any other webpage, provided you can paste in a code snippet.

This alone may prove to be the virtual world's mass-market trigger point - in the same way as the I-Phone presses the go button on mobile internet. Virtual worlds go viral.

Imagine a real-time auction for the item you are selling. This may have powerful, and rapidly enabling consequences for the new forms of classified advertising I've been imagining (ie virtual showrooms - now everyone could show off their vehicle for sale and pitch buyers head to head: eBay meets SecondLife...)

It has implications for global niche communities, too. In SecondLife there are limits to the numbers of people (80) who can meet in one place. So replicating a full crowd experience is tough. Now we can have a proper virtual conference.

And I love the possibilities of that when it comes to getting a niche community of shared interest together - 'physically' on a global scale. It really writes large that synchronous communication element that's so important in the most powerful communities of shared purpose.

It should be easier to give directions in Scenecaster because you can link to a location as a separate url. That's been a problem for SecondLife. It's a bonus for those who will use it to promote anything. There's a big marketing play here.

It may not have the complete immersion of SecondLife, but it looks like the advantages (and Robert lists more on his blog) could trump this - particularly for those who prefer to 'live' in the real and virtual space.

UPDATE: Sep 27, 1.30pm:
Having had a play I've found there were more limitations than I initially believed. I can access, update and share my scenes but only (currently) within SceneCaster or Facebook. Not on my blog etc. All I can share on my blog is an image of it. Now that may not be all bad. Combined with the url for the room, it should suffice as an invite to people to come on it... I think.
Come and check out the FasterFuture lounge here.

YouTube will pay for UGC - how will you respond?

I appreciate I'm a little late on commenting on this one (YouTube to pay video makers, BBC) but then again, it ain't as if YouTube didn't promise as much at the time the google deal was signed.
But it does raise some interesting questions and perhaps means the rules of the game have changed.
UGC has so far been created for the glory of it, the fame, the attention, the self-satisfaction - whatever. Now the biggest and most visual example of it (ok, Blogger could argue with biggest) is saying - make good content people like and you should be paid. Note this - not just rewarded - paid.
YouTube says it didn't want to start with this model because the kind of people who were attracted by paid UGC would simply move to a higher paying one when it cropped up. It said it wanted to build a community first.
I'm not sure YouTube has much in the way of deep community. It has a great tool and people share what they create with that great tool on and in other communities.
What they have is lots of visitors with money to spend.
I guess the laws of supply and demand will prevail. It's inevitable that users will be rewarded for how well their content turns into cash. And that's where the google adsense expertise will kick in.
I suspect the google payment mechanism won't be far removed from a google adsense model. So if you make videos which no one wants to see - no money. If you make videos about things no one wants to advertise against - no money. If you make ads which get people in a spending clicking mood - big money.
Since no porn is allowed in adsense we could see the end of the titilating tag words and a reduction in teenagers dancing in their underwear. Things could get spectacularly more creative.
But we could end up with a flood of substandard TV-style ads. It'll be an interesting time.

I've got away from my original point. The biggest issue for rival media companies is of course, not the impact of payment for UGC on YouTube - but what that means people will suddenly expect from your fledgling UGC plan.

You'll likely have less fame to offer - and less cash. What's the response?
You're better off if you are well niched, that's for sure. Big fish/little pond gives you a chance.

Any one got other solutions?

What's in your wallet? Oh a sim card

Over at one of my recommended blogs 'Mobile Weblog', you'll find this which takes us a step closer to your mobile-is-your-wallet, by widening the availability of the required technology.
This element of the convergent technology of mobiles opens loads of new doors. Imagine you sell a magazine aimed at kids - who run out of pocket money. Give them a mechanism by which they can buy your mag in a shop (where they see it, when they want it) without needing cash and you've just made their lives a little easier.
One interesting take on the 3G revolution is that before too long there will be more machines communicating with each other by mobile than humans - and they'll probably generate the bulk of the revenues (Tomi T Ahonen, M-Profits). A tip of that iceberg is automated billing.
Media companies wanting users to renew subscriptions may find it rather easier to have a machine send them a text message offering them a new deal - which also offers them the opportunity to buy with one click of their mobile phone.
Try the same with classified ads, display ads etc etc.

YouTube - a whole new world of FREE classified ads?

Stumbled on this today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fge5zJRzvO8
While loads of media and creative types have been tripping over themselves to create free video ads (or marketing of some kind or other) on YouTube, now we're starting to see video classified ads from what appear to be small time US car dealers.
Actually, on closer inspection a small media company looks like it's selling this service to the small car dealers. Smart.
Perhaps this is actually closer to user generated content extending to the ads now?

Pause for thought.

They are placing this ad in front of a focused (via search) market, for free.
They can show/tell you much more than he could in a £30 classified ad in his local paper or specialist mag.
It's been viewed 200 times in approx three weeks.
So, the big question is, what kind of response do they get. I've sent a message to see if he'll share. And if he does, I will.

Of course, if you know your way around html even slightly, it's long been possible to place a video ad on an eBay auction item. But it sure ain't free.