Today, I came across a children's website that trades in its own currency - Kinzcash®.

I'm not really into virtual worlds like Second Life, but I'm always interested in all types of social phenomena, and the idea of replacing the playground or back yard with a screen-based scenario is something I find both fascinating and frightening.

Kinzcash® is based around a range of soft toys each of which carries a code number that acts as a password to the Webkinz® world. Children register their pet and then start spending money to feed and clothe their pet and decorate their pet's home. What caught my attention was the fact that Kinzcash cannot be bought with normal money, it can only be earned through time spent on the site.

I can see that by creating a virtual playground, children want to invite their friends and hence the friends need the product in order to gain access. It's a nice twist on viral marketing. But wearing my "Negotiations" hat, I wonder what benefit this teaches children about working, earning and trading. The Golden Rule that Tork and Grunt learn in the first book in the series is that negotiations happen when someone's got something you want. Generally you have to work out some sort of exchange that offers mutual benefit.

In the Webkinz environment, just as in the real world, you barter your time for their cash. However, the benefit to Webkinz isn't the product of your labour, it's the fact that you'll enjoy the environment sufficiently to encourage others to purchase access and "play with you" on the site.

Is this the future of employment? Already we see this in creative industries, where the work environment is play-oriented. Here's a quote from the Apple UK website page advertising job vacancies in Apple stores:

"Working in a place you used to go into and feeling a tingle in your body is amazing, because I get that tingle very day going to work for Apple, I am still waiting to wake up!"
Paul, Mac Specialist, Apple Store, Bullring, Birmingham

I believe that the need to belong, to participate in a community is a powerful element in many people's approach to employment. Consequently the production-line work-house environment has long since given way to a less formal, more friendly and playful setting in which to work.

In some retail chains I sometimes think we're getting to the point when the end-consumer is funding an environment that contributes little to the customer experience. Background music is more often aimed at the staff age-group than at the customer profile and the concept of retail service is often reduced to a checkout mentality. In the end the consumers are supporting staff remuneration and benefits packages that bear no relation to the skill level required for the positions.

In my real world it doesn't work like that. Every freelancer knows that our world is more like a video game of survival than a virtual playground. And most of us live with the Thursday afternoon syndrome, when a job comes through late Thursday and is wanted early Monday.

What the self-employed sole trader needs is a website that creates a virtual weekend, and gives us time rather than burning it up...!