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Recently, many startups have been using avatars in their core product thesis. For the longest time, having an avatar had no real use case, other than interacting with your niche group or game on the internet. I think that narrative is shifting a bit.

The smart founders know we will all be spending more time online in the future, not less. And if this is the case, why not build in the ability for us to be…anyone? A concept once reserved for gaming and internet chat rooms is branching out into the mainstream. This isn’t just a theory, companies are pioneering this trend.

Spacial launched today, which is aiming to be the place where avatars connect in VR. Zoom competitors like Pragli are popping up, and are taking a avatar first approach to videochat software. One primary way games like Fortnite and Roblox make money is from in game purchases, like skin upgrades. And don’t get me started on Bitmoji.

If we spend more time on the internet in the future, especially when VR/AR catches up, then why wouldn’t we want to have our own digital avatar to be awesome? We will need an avatar to go to bars in Snap’s Augmented World, Facebook’s Oculus Universe or, (enter two badass ladies in a garage building the next Google here).

Wish you were a little taller? There’s a upgrade for that. Want to see what you look like with a cowboy hat? It’s just $10 more for that skin. It might seem silly to you, but when Gen Z grows up and enters the workforce, and we all live on the internet more and more, will you be ahead of the pack with a decked out digital avatar? Or will you just be your average….IRL…self.? This is the rise of the avatars.

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