Watch out, Second Life

Okay, so I don't have an Avatar. Aside from Facebook and email, I don't really spend that much time online. But I was interested to read about another social networking site, Kaneva. It was started by Chris Klaus, the (34 year old!) founder of Internet Security Systems, or ISS, a corporation that he sold to IBM for $1.3 billion. Klaus incorporated his internet security background into the development of the site, making it more secure in the eyes of some users. Kaneva is like an interactive version of MySpace, where people can make friends with other Avatars. Overall, I found the article interesting, as I thought that Avatars were exclusive to Second Life (or at least that the name was). I still have to wonder, though--even though you can probably get into less trouble this way, haha--is this going to become the future? Because as nice as it is to sometimes stay at home, I feel as though I'm always going to choose a night spent with "real" friends over a a chat session with virtual ones.. But if this article is truly revealing the direction in which society is traveling, maybe that's just me?
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/02/01/kaneva_0203.html