Why you should have a Zwinky!

Zwinky is a social networking application that operates through the medium of personalized avatars. Like most social networking sites, Zwinky gives users the chance to make new friends, as well as chat and socialize. Zwinky has been created in such a way that you can import your Zwinky onto a number of different websites, such as MySpace. This aspect of Zwinky provides users with a unique level of flexibility and control over their Zwinky experience. The creation of Zwinktopia has added a whole new level of fun to Zwinky.

Speaking of Zwinktopia, Zwinky is similar in fashion to Club Penguin, the Disney-owned social networking world where users create and control their own penguin avatars. Club Penguin is aimed more at a younger demographic -- generally children between the ages of 6 and 12 -- while Zwinky's age group has to be older than 13 to join, but the features and objectives of both sites are nearly the same. Both sites require users to make their own personal avatars. Both services also exist in an imaginary virtual world in which users can move around: Club Penguin members roam around a chilly island, while Zwinky users move from place to place inside Zwinktopia. And on top of making friends and chatting, there's also a big focus on game playing. By playing these games, members of Club Penguin and Zwinky earn their own special kind of currency, which players can cash in for virtual goods.

In a press release, spokespeople for Zwinky pointed out the ability to create a new personality, try out new fashion trends or "make themselves hipper, trendier or more glamorous" as a positive aspect of the service. The release was also very straightforward about the fact that users could create Zwinkies that looked nothing like themselves in real life. Critics, on the other hand, point out that sites such as Zwinky place too much emphasis on consumerism and attempt to suck users in instead of teaching them real world values. Regardless of that debate, Zwinky had 16 million unique members as of August 2008, and the service has added Zwinky Cuties, another virtual world marketed toward younger girls, to its roster.