Neopets,The,power,children,and DIY Neopets: The power of children and their imagination.
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If you havent heard of Neopets than I have to seriously wonder what planet you come from, you definitely dont hail from Neopia. www.neopets.com is one of the most popular sites on the whole Internet, and what does this mean to you and me? Its a kids site. Our next generation is finding a home in virtual reality, and they love it. Neopets has over 70 million members from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo, and has had a total of over 300 billion website page views. According to Wired magazines Dec. 2005 edition, Neopets is the second most sticky website on the whole of our planets World Wide Web. Average users are on the site around 6 hours a month with so many members the mind boggles as to how much time our future generations are spending time with their virtual pets. What is a virtual pet anyway? Why does every kid on the Earth want one? What do you do with them once theyre in your custody? Things have changed since I was a youngster and that wasnt too long ago let me tell you. I played video games, rode BMX bicycles, and even toilet papered the occasional house or two-usually the girls we liked (this last activity wasnt as socially productive as the former). Virtual reality hadnt hit the main stage like it has today; computers themselves in my mind were for finding out stuff at school. No one knew what the Internet was when I was ten years old back in 1985. Now all the kids are playing games and participating in other activities online in order to gain more points which enhance their pets skills and talents. Sounds weird, doesnt it? Its not weird to the little humans of the future. Neopia is a strange world, and Ive only just begun to scratch the surface. As far as I can tell, you can create a virtual shop to sell items, or go to others shops and make purchases using your points (gained through all the pets experiences). For example, I went to a marketplace, clicked my mouse on the music section and was told that I could buy a Chomby and the Fungus Balls T-shirt for only 1,588 neopoints, and that there were currently 7 of the product in stock. I guess its cool to buy your pet neat things I dont know if I understand it but I think its a huge phenomenon theres even a stock market called the Neodaq index! Talk about getting the children prepared for the future. One has to wonder how all this will affect society when our kids finally do grow up. Thats another point of contention. Where theres action, theres usually an adult trying to make a buck out of it, and this site is definitely no exception. Neopets have coined its money-making model as immersive advertising. The content of the experience is no longer separate from commercialism. Youve heard of product placement, well this is another whole step forward, or backward from that older model. I went inside the game section of the website (after choosing a species of pet: A Jubjub, then naming it, choosing its color, and rolling to get its characteristics.) and then had a look at the 160 possible games for me to enjoy. I decided to play the McDonalds Secret Image Game. Theres nothing secret about what the suit-and-tie guys are trying to pull off here. All my favorite Happy Meal characters were being portrayed in pictures that slowly gained more and more focus. If you could tell that the Hamburglar was dancing, you scored points. In the Wired article author David Kushner quotes James McNeal a professor in marketing who said, It is not until around 8 years old that they (children) can mentally defend against a persuasive sales message if they wish to. The balance of the Universe is always in play and this is another case where both positive and negative possibilities stem from a new creation in human culture. Kids love Neopets. My Jubjub named Dogstarmaster looks pretty cool. I dont know how I am going to get defensive armor for him, nor why I need it, but I guess thats all part of the Neopet journey. Let your kids enjoy, learn and make friends with the other animals. Just be careful, they might end up becoming stock brokers and watch out they dont eat too many cheeseburgers. Theres no use having a virtual pet that is super healthy and strong, while the child owner is sick and obese.
Neopets,The,power,children,and