Webkinz is a new designer fad for the kids. It cleverly combines children's love of stuffed animals with the idea of Pokemon's "Gotta catch 'em all!" and the online social component of MySpace. In retail stores all across the United States, Webkinz are small stuffed animals of various species, such as the dog pictured above. Much like Beanie Babies before them, they are cute and collectable. However, the Webkinz experience only starts with the purchase of an actual Webkin. Once bought, the animal comes to life online at Webkinz.com. Here, Webkinz owners must take care of their virtual pets while completing online activities to earn "KinzCash" which they can then spend on decorations for their pets' online rooms. The site also provides opportunities for users to interact with other users in chat rooms.
Webkinz is a sort of convergence of media and non-media - with a more traditional offering of stuffed animals leading to a 'net-based social network of sorts. Webkinz attracts kids in several different ways - especially its interactivity (the pets come alive online), opportunity for self-expression (users create their own rooms for their pets), and social experience (chat rooms). This attraction, much like that of online gaming and the internet in general, has been met with resistance from parents. Parents have criticized Webkinz based mainly on three concerns: Addiction, Online safety, and "Wasting Time." The Webkinz creators have done an excellent job of anticipating these concerns and have attempted to alleviate them through educational activities, parental restrictions on chatting, and an entire section of the website for parents.
Webkinz is a fascinating new media product and one which is particularly interesting to me as a future game developer. The Webkinz team has created a very popular phenomenon and managed to capture the fickle child consumer market - the question is: how long will this newest fad last?
1 comment:
Reading about this made my brain bleed a little.
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