When the Internet becomes child's play

Dublin - For a generation of young girls, it has become a digital heaven. Instead of dashing out to play after school or doing their homework, they leave the real world behind and log onto a virtual one.

Children have always loved playing make-believe, but now the Internet has created a new forum for their fantasies where they design their own identities on a new wave of websites that cater specifically for pre-teen girls.

With more than six million registered users, the world's largest such site is Stardoll.com, a cyber playground where children can dress up and play with hundreds of celebrity dolls designed in the form of graphic avatars (or characters).

Such is the popularity of the site here, there are now 90 000 registered users in Ireland, 93 percent of them are girls with an average age of 14.

But one of Britain's best known scientists, Susan Greenfield of the Royal Institution, has warned that internet-based virtual worlds may have a serious impact on real-life relationships and encourage users to abandon "the messy" intimacy of human relations for two-dimensional liaisons in the virtual world.

Stardoll introduces children to a world of fashion, fake tan and new friends. Users design their own "Me Doll" online identity which they create in their own likeness by choosing from a variety of virtual faces, lips, eye colours, skin tones and hair styles.

They then dress up their dolls in the latest teen fashion or dip into the wardrobe of their favourite celebrity, be she Mischa Barton or the Olsen twins. They can also chat with other members online and measure their popularity by the number of "friends" they accumulate on their page.

Users who register as paying members become "SuperStars" and get exclusive rights to dolls that haven't been released yet. They can then augment their wardrobes by shopping for virtual dresses and shoes with Stardollars, the site's currency purchased with a credit card or mobile phone credit.

The Stockholm-based website has tapped into the huge success of virtual lifestyle sites for adults such as Second Life, the cyber world which has 25 million users worldwide, but Stardoll has targeted the commercial power of the tweenie - the next generation ofonline consumers.

For some parents, sites such as Stardoll, and others in its genre such as Club Penguin, (a fantasy world where users play with penguin avatars who can roam, chat and play games) represent an innocent alternative to the more violent world of video games. But concerns have been expressed by child advocates about this booming phenomenon.

Critics say that the commercial element of websites such as Stardoll is exploitative of young children and that they perpetuate stereotypes of the perfect body image.

"There are some good things about Stardoll but from a very young age it is encouraging children to carry out financial transactions online," says Louisan Lassala, an IT consultant and director of the Anchor Youth Centre in Artane, Dublin.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation has noticed a surge in interest among Irish children in sites such as Star-doll and is warning parents to be vigilant about Internet activity by young people.

"Some children are using their phone credit for online shopping without their parents' knowledge. They are being ripped off by these websites and there are also real issues about the stereotypical images being targeted at children. No young child should be persuaded to see size zero as an ideal," says John Carr, general secretary of the teacher's organisation.

But according to Stardoll's chief executive Mattias Miksche, his website is all about "having fun. We have competitions where users vote for each other on who'll be the cover girl of our virtual fashion magazine.

"It's the doll that appears, never the real person. If you are our cover girl, you become immensely popular - you get lots of friends and people write things in your guest book."

Websites such as Stardoll say child safety is their over-riding priority and they use powerful filters that minimise the threat of dangerous interactions and limit the kind of message that can be sent.

The Stardoll game is a hit with children. Sarah Quinn, 11, and her sister Claire, nine, from Dublin have only recently discovered Stardoll but it's already a hit in their house.

"Claire just likes dressing the dolls, but Sarah loves the style and buying the clothes," says mum Laura.

"I feel it's a bit pushy on buying the dollars rather than encouraging them to earn them.

"I guess that's how the company makes their money.

"Overall, they seemed to enjoy playing it, but I only allow computer game time of this nature on rainy days, so they haven't spent enough time yet to be experts.

"There are no labels on the clothes but it does encourage kids to sit around talking about clothes, which eventually leads onto who wears what and so on.

"As for myself, I opened the package with help from Sarah and we played it together," she says.

On Club Penguin for example, it is not possible to slip in a phone number or geographic location, or to use phrases or words that would be explicit or suggestive.

The Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland says it is aware of Stardoll's large Irish user base and encourages parents with concerns about any website targeting children to contact its helpline.

"Such websites are entertaining and a good way of introducing younger people to the internet, which they need as a life skill, says Paul Durant, general manager.

"But with all things there can be risks. Child-orientated websites should have simple and clear acceptable usage policies and there is a clear onus on the site owner to ensure that the website is not misused."

Other websites include barbiegirl.com, which allows users to create their own Barbie doll in a pink girly environment.

You can earn Barbie bucks by participating in various activities and go to the virtual mall to buy a new shirt.

Members can control who they allow into their doll's room with three different settings: "locked", "best friends only" and "open".

Cartoon Doll Emporium is aimed at girls of six to 16 and draws three million visitors a month. It is free for many activities but charges for access to more dolls to dress up and other premium services.

It features hundreds of dolls for users to dress including iconic figures from history, politics and celebrity.

Weeworld, a site aimed at letting 13 to 25-year-olds dress up and chat through animated characters, recently signed a deal to permit the online characters to carry bags of Skittles sweets, and it is considering other advertisers.

Webkinz, where users control a virtual replica of their pet, which has its own special code, is a big hit with the under-10s. The craze is so popular that codes are now being sold on eBay. - Irish Independent

• This article was originally published on page 16 of The Cape Argus on July 27, 2007