Introduction

Virtual Worlds share many similarities with virtual bulletin boards, more commonly known as chat rooms. They share links in that both are a source of chatting with people all across the world, where all that have access to the internet are able to communicate with each other through virtual means. Complete strangers can exchange age, gender, location, and even photos of themselves depending on how much they trust the individual, something that is easy gained during chat room sessions.

Communication is the main similarity between virtual worlds and basic chat room systems, but there are vast differences that set the two apart.

For one, Virtual Worlds host gaming systems, where players can customize their appearance and create a character for themselves to use while exploring the areas of their choice, choosing to let the customized image represent themselves. Interacting with others with a distinct appearance proves to be more fun for participants than if they were to enter a chat room, and makes things more personal between members of the virtual society. An example of such a place would be Habbo Hotel, a popular virtual website in which each member signs up and creates a pixilated human of their choice, male or female, and customize the clothes and physical features of their decided Habbo.

There are many Virtual Worlds designed for many ages, some targeted towards young children such as the well-known “Neopets”, while others have an age requirement, requiring all members to be thirteen and above to join the community due to its content.