Word: zwinktopia
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...IAC/InterActiveCorp, which owns popular sites like match.com, ask.com and citysearch.com, has launched a youth-oriented virtual world of its own called Zwinktopia, which lets members customize avatars, play games and explore cartoon-like chat rooms. Unveiled April 30 and aimed at netheads aged 13 to 34, the site is entirely free. Members earn virtual "Zbucks" by playing games, meeting new people, and exploring different parts of Zwinktopia, including its café, stadium, arcades and pixelated beach...
...Zwinktopia's design is simplistic and really easy to learn how to use. Teens can choose from hundreds of outfits, hairstyles, even pets, and then head to the mall for even more choices in the Surf Shop, the Castle (for medieval attire), or the University Club (for preppies). Once you've perfected your look, you can start earning points (for buying even more clothes) by hitting the arcade or heading over to Kingpin Korner. Games like Zwinky Bowl are easy: just press the space bar on your keyboard to release the bowling ball and watch the pins...
...Before parents set their kids loose in Zwinktopia or any other virtual world, however, they should know there is nothing to prevent, say, a pedophile from joining the site and masquerading as a 13-year-old girl. Although some sites aimed at younger kids, such as Disney' s ToonTown and Ganz' s Webkinz, only let members exchange canned messages, on Zwinktopia kids are free to type their own messages. However, swear words and sexually explicit comments get replaced with a "bleep." And while there is no age verification process, members who claim to be 17 or younger are directed...
...While members can report offensive comments and the site keeps a log of all chats, IAC is taking a hands-off approach to monitoring what goes on at Zwinktopia. "It' s going to be a learning process," says Dorcas Casey, IAC's director of product strategy, when asked where the company draws the line on inappropriate behavior. If Zwinktopia really hopes to attract kids aged 13 and up without sending their parents into cardiac arrest, it might want to speed that process...
| 1 |