In the Virtual World, a Place to Chat "He has concluded that there are two main types of users. One group is made up of people who want to interact in person with friends by riding digital dune buggies, flying hovercraft, decorating virtual homes and going on online scavenger hunts.
The others, he said, want to be with people they do not know in the physical world. An archetypal user "is the woman who is in her 30's, single, really overweight, lives in a small town," Mr. Melcher said. "She's quite verbal and bright. She feels trapped by her weight and location. She reads The New York Times and The New Yorker and Salon, and she wants to meet people who have her interests."
Mr. Melcher said the virtual world would let such people be appreciated for what they feel and think, and how smart and interesting they are, and not by more superficial criteria."