Is that You or your Avatar Calling?

Your social media life may soon need it’s on phone line. Some social sites have come up with a new way to separate you from your money. In the coming months online games and virtual worlds, including Linden Lab's Second Life and Sony's Star Wars, plan to start charging players to call one another over the Web ~ even when they're not immersed in a game.

The idea is to forge tighter bonds between the ~~ and the people who inhabit them by helping players make real-world connections from their phones.

Second life has 650,000 active members. Linden Lab has announced plans to introduce features to connect users via land lines, cell phones, and PCs. One service, called "Dial an Avatar," lets players call other characters in the virtual world, or dial into a virtual meeting from their cell phone—even when they're not sitting in front of their browser. The company plans to roll out new features throughout the year and may charge subscriptions to make calls into Second Life.

Sony Online Entertainment plans to introduce new Internet calling services this summer for its online fantasy role-playing games, EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies. "It's a community-forming feature," says Russ Shanks, chief operating officer of Sony Online Entertainment. One service would let users talk with friends, no matter what Sony game they're playing.

PC maker Lenoveo has plans to launch a new virtual world called the "Lenovo eLounge," designed to boost sales of its machines. The lounge features Web phone calling software from Nortel.

For recession challenged Web sites ~ this may be their ticket to reach out and touch a new revenue stream.