I find this very easy to believe. I think that virtual worlds have come of age. There was a lot of this hype with MUDs and MOOs in the 90’s, but lack of authentic interaction (don’t lecture me on the authenic language aspect) killed these spaces.

Realistic spaces like Second Life and World of Warcraft realistic spaces (with a great deal of fantasy) that enable users to interact in very authentic ways including rudamentary body language that will likely get better over time. Also, what I see as a missing piece of the puzzle, voice, is being beta tested in Second Life right now. These systems are only bound to get better, especially with the backing of large media companies.