Club Penguin

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Club Penguin
Image:CP logo rgb sm.gif
The Club Penguin Logo
Developer(s) New Horizon Interactive
Publisher(s) Disney
Engine Adobe Flash
Platform(s) Online
Release date October 24, 2005
Genre(s) Online Game
Mode(s) Multiplayer
Media Web interface
Input methods Keyboard, Mouse

Club Penguin is an online game developed by New Horizon Interactive, which has since been purchased by The Walt Disney Company. Using cartoon penguins as avatars, players waddle around, chat, play minigames, and participate in other activities with one another in a snow-covered virtual world. After beta-testing, Club Penguin was made available to the general public on October 24, 2005[1] and has since expanded into a large online community. In April 2008, Club Penguin opened its first international office in the UK for local support.[2]

Contents

[edit] History and development

Development on Club Penguin began in 1995 when Lane Married Lance Priebe, employees at New Horizon Productions (which became New Horizon Interactive in 2005) in Kelowna, British Columbia,[3] saw a need for "social networking for kids".[4] As Merrifield later described the situation, they decided to build Club Penguin when they were unsuccessful in finding "something that had some social components but was safe, and not just marketed as safe" for their own children.[5] Merrifield and Priebe approached their employer, David Krisko, with the idea of creating a spinoff company to develop the new product.[3]

Prior to starting work on Club Penguin, Lance Priebe had been developing Flash web-based games in his spare time.[6] As part of Rocketsnail Games, Priebe released Experimental Penguins in 2000, which featured gameplay similar to that which was incorporated into Club Penguin. Although Experimental Penguins went offline in 2001, it was used as the inspiration for Penguin Chat, which was first released by Rocketsnail Games in January, 2003. Therefore, when Priebe, Merrifield and Krisko decided to go ahead with Club Penguin in 2003, they had Penguin Chat to inform part of the design process. After two years of testing and development, the first version of Club Penguin went live on October 24, 2005.[1].

Growth was rapid. Club Penguin started with 15,000 users, and by March that number had reached 1.4 million—a figure which almost doubled by September, when it hit 2.6 million.[3] By the time Club Penguin was two years old, membership had reached 3.9 million users.[7] At the point when they were purchased by Disney, Club Penguin had 12 million accounts, of which 70,000 were paid subscribers, and were generating $40 million in revenue.[8]

Although the owners had turned down lucrative advertising offers and venture capital investments in the past,[3] in August 2007 they agreed to sell the company (both Club Penguin and the parent company) for the sum of $350 million.[8] In addition, the owners were promised bonuses of up to $350 million if they were able to meet growth targets by 2009.[9] In making the sale, Merrifield has stated that their main focus during negotiations was philosophical,[5] and that the intent was to provide themselves with the needed infrastructure in order to continue to grow.[4]

On March 11, 2008 Club Penguin released The Club Penguin Improvement Project (CPIP).[10] This project allowed players to be part of the testing of new servers put into use in Club Penguin on April 14, 2008.[11] Players had a "clone" of their penguin made, to test these new servers for bugs and glitches.[12] The testing was ended on April 4, 2008.[13]

[edit] Business model

Prior to being purchased by Disney, Club Penguin was almost entirely dependent on membership fees to produce a revenue stream.[14] Nevertheless, the vast majority of members (90% according to The Washington Post) chose not to pay, instead taking advantage of the free memberships on offer.[15] Those who choose to pay do so because full (paid) membership is required to access all of the services, such as the ability to purchase virtual clothes for the penguins and buy decorations for igloos;[16] and because peer pressure has created a "caste system" separating paid from unpaid members.[17] Advertising, both in-game and on-site, have not been incorporated into the system, although some competitors have chosen to employ it: for example Whyville, which uses corporate sponsorship,[18] and Neopets, which incorporates product placements.[19] After Club Penguin was purchased by Disney, concerns were raised that this lack of advertising may change,[20] but Disney insisted that they believe advertising to be "inappropriate" for a young audience.[19]

An alternative revenue stream has come through the development of an online merchandise shop, which opened on the Club Penguin website in August 2006,[21] selling stuffed Puffles and T-shirts. Key chains, gift cards, and more shirts were added on November 7, 2006.[22]

As with its rival, Webkinz, Club Penguin has traditionally relied almost entirely on word-of-mouth advertising to increase the membership.[23]

[edit] Child safety

One of the major concerns when designing Club Penguin was how to ensure the safety of participants. As Lane Merrifield stated, "the decision to build Club Penguin grew out of a desire to create a fun, virtual world that I and the site's other two founders would feel safe letting our own children visit."[24] As a result, Club Penguin has maintained a strong focus on child safety,[25] to the point whereby the security features have been described as almost "fastidious" and "reminiscent of an Orwellian dystopia".[26] At the same time, it is argued that this focus is likely to "reassure more parents than it alienates."[26]

The system uses a number of different approaches in order to maintain a high level of security. The key approaches include:

  • Preventing the use of inappropriate usernames.[27]
  • Providing an "Ultimate-Safe Chat" mode, which limits players to selecting phrases from a list.[25]
  • Using an automatic filter during "Open Chat" (which allows users to generate their own messages).[28] In particular, profanity is blocked, even when users employ "creative" methods to insert it into sentences.[27] In addition, even some seemingly innocuous terms are filtered, such as "mom", and both email addresses and telephone numbers are blocked.[25]
  • Employing paid moderators. Out of 100 staff employed in the company in May 2007, Merrifield estimated that approximately 70 staff were dedicated to policing the game.[23]
  • Promoting some veteran users to "secret agent" status, and encouraging them to report inappropriate behavior.[25]

Each game server offers a particular type of chat—the majority allowing either chat mode, but some servers allow only the "Ultimate-Safe Chat" mode. When using "Open Chat", all comments made by users are filtered. When a comment is blocked, the user who made the comment sees it, but other users are unaware that it was made—suggesting to the "speaker" that they are being ignored, rather than encouraging them to try and find a way around the restriction.[25]

Beyond these primary measures, systems are in place to limit the amount of time spent online, and the site does not feature any advertisements, for, as described by Merrifield, "within two or three clicks, a kid could be on a gambling site or an adult dating site".[23]

Players who use profanity are often punished by an automatic 24-hour ban, although not all vulgar language results in an immediate ban. After being caught using profane language on a second or third occasion, players may be banned for 72 hours. Players caught cheating Club Penguin are banned for a much longer time period. After 3 to 5 bans, a player is banned indefinitely from the game.[29]

[edit] Memberships

[edit] Subscribed memberships

Players may become subscribed members and doing so grants them additional in-game benefits. However, players must pay money or use game cards sold at Target. Players who have membership may buy clothing, wigs and furniture, own up to fourteen Puffles (the pets of Club Penguin), enjoy early access to new parts of the game, buy furniture for their puffles, have access to all puffle breeds, and open up their igloos. Members also have access to Members-only parties hosted by Club Penguin.[30]

Club Penguin recently released game cards available for retail purchase, initially at Target stores in the United States, enabling players to buy their own membership.[31][32]

[edit] Non-memberships

Club Penguin provides a non-membership option. Although such play is free, it does not include all of the benefits of being a member. Non-members may still buy different colors for their penguins, buy player-card backgrounds, travel to any place in the Club Penguin world (except during members-only parties), and play games. Non-members may also receive and use items given out at parties that are held monthly for all players. Non-members are restricted to only two red or blue puffles. If a former member once owned puffles, they may be kept, although no new member-only puffles may be bought. Non-members can not purchase clothes, furniture, wigs, hats, or igloo upgrades.[17] Non-Members also may collect 'pins' to put on their backgrounds, they may not buy them in a catalog.

[edit] Beta testers

During the beta stages of Club Penguin's development, anyone could sign up to be a beta tester. Beta testers received special benefits upon the official release of Club Penguin, such as a month of paid membership, coins, a pink and yellow party hat, and the option to have any letter of their name in uppercase/lowercase letters. This privilege is not extended to regular players, whose names can only contain one capital letter, and only at the beginning of their name. Beta testers are considered to be extremely rare.


[edit] Environment

The "Town" room in Club Penguin
The "Town" room in Club Penguin

Club Penguin is divided into various rooms and distinct areas. Many game locations can be accessed by clicking on the Club Penguin map. Some places are reached by clicking their general area on the map and then walking the penguin to the specific location.[32] Other places are only available for access on certain days or at certain times.

Each player is provided with an igloo for a home. Members have the option of opening their igloo so other penguins can access it via the map.[30] Members may also purchase larger igloos and decorate their igloos with items bought with virtual coins earned by playing mini-games.[15]

[edit] Notable places within Club Penguin

Rooms Games in Rooms Other Rooms
The Town Beans (Coffee Shop), Mancala (Book Room) Thin Ice (Dance Lounge), Astro Barrier (Dance Lounge) Coffee Shop (Book Room), Night Club (Lounge), Gift Shop
The Plaza Puffle Round-Up (Pet Shop), Pizzatron 3000 (Pizza Parlor) Pet Shop, The Stage, Pizza Parlor
The Cove Catchin' Waves None
Forest None Treehouse (during Medieval Party of May 2008)
The Snow Forts None Ice Rink
The Dock Hydro-Hopper None
The Beach Treasure Hunt (Captains Quarters) (only available when Rockhopper visits), Jet Pack Adventure (Beacon) Migrator (Not Always Available)(Ship's Hold, Crow's Nest and Captain's Quarters), Lighthouse (Beacon)
Ski Village Ice Fishing (Ski Lodge) Ski Lodge, Sport Shop
Mountain Sled Racing None
The Dojo (Hidden) None None
Mine (Hidden) Cart Surfer (Underground) Cave (Pool)
Iceberg (Hidden) Aqua Grabber None
Rockhopper's ship (Not always available) Treasure Hunt (quarters) Captain's Quarters, Ship Hold, Main Deck, Crow's Nest
Treehouse (during Medieval Party of May 2008) None None

[edit] The Stage

The map of Club Penguin
The map of Club Penguin

The Stage was released in November 2007, in the Plaza, between the Pet Shop and the Pizza Parlor.[33] In the stage, penguins can act out plays. Subscribed members may buy costumes for the play, an option that non-members do not have. The script for the play is located at the bottom right corner of the screen. When clicked, a list of lines is brought up. Each month, a new play is released. The names of all of the plays are listed below.

Month Play
November 2007 Space Adventure
December 2007 Twelth Fish
January 2008 Squidzoid vs. Shadow Guy and Gamma Gal
February 2008 Team Blue's Rally Debut
March 2008 Space Adventure (Encore)
April 2008 Quest for the Golden Puffle
May 2008 Twelfth Fish (Encore)

[edit] Game features

A typical Club Penguin member player card.
A typical Club Penguin member player card.

[edit] Emoticons

Players can express their feelings with emoticons. There are numerous emoticons, such as a happy face, a sad face, angry, winking, etc. The emoticons appear above the avatar's head in a speech bubble. There are also secret emoticons that may be unlocked by holding down letters on the keyboard (e.g. holding down E and I produces the igloo emoticon). On December 5, 2007, the heart and skull emoticons were removed because players found these offensive, and were replaced with the flower emoticon. On January 9, 2008 the heart emoticon was brought back as a result of popular demand by players.[34]

[edit] Items

Players may use the virtual coins that they collect from playing mini games to purchase various items from a wide variety of shops. Shop types include clothing, wigs, stage costumes, igloos, furniture, and sports.

Players are allowed to change the color of their penguin at certain shops. Each color bought is saved into the penguin's card, allowing the player to access and change the color of their penguin as often as they wish. Backgrounds are also available for players to purchase. Backgrounds are placed behind the penguin's picture on their penguin card and can also be switched with other backgrounds freely. Every month, up to two to four backgrounds are released. Backgrounds and colors can be bought by non-members.

New pins appear within Club Penguin every two weeks and display in the top left-hand corner of a player's penguin card. Pins are free, but are hidden throughout the game. A special Christmas Tree Pin was made available during late 2006. On January 4, 2008, Club Penguin hid their 50th pin, a snow shovel. Flags are similar to pins; they also appear in the top left-hand corner of a player's lookup card. Flags can only be worn one at a time. Although they can only be bought by members they can be worn by non-members too.

Clothes are worn by penguins, which can either be bought or is given out during parties. Only members can buy clothes, but those given out at parties are wearable by all penguins.

Members' igloos can be upgraded into many different styles. Some igloo styles are themed for parties, such as the Bamboo Hut or Log Cabin. Furniture may be bought for the igloos of subscribed members and can be used to design and decorate an igloo. Flooring for an igloo (introduced January 19, 2007) is also only accessible by subscribed members.

[edit] Puffles

Puffles are small, fluffy creatures that players may have as pets. They are available from the Pet Shop in blue, green, pink, black, purple, red, and yellow. Non-members have access to the blue and red puffles only, and may have no more than two; members may adopt up to fourteen puffles.[35] Puffles have health, rest, and energy bar charts to indicate their status. Members whose membership has expired may still keep the puffles, unless they run away.

There are seven official breeds of puffles, each with a different personality:[36]

  • Blue Puffles are mild tempered and content. Their favorite toy is a ball. Blue Puffles can be adopted by anyone in Club Penguin. Blue Puffles were the first puffle breed in Club Penguin and are loyal, making them very popular.
  • Green Puffles are very energetic and playful. They like to clown around on their unicycles or play with their propeller caps.
  • Purple Puffles are lots of fun to have around. They enjoy blowing bubbles and are terrific dancers, but they can be a bit fussy, especially at meal time.
  • Red Puffles are adventurous and enthusiastic. They are fearless when attempting daring tricks (except in the survival mode of Catchin' Waves) and spend a lot of their playful energy on a surf board. Rockhopper brought these puffles to Club Penguin on his ship from Rockhopper Island. These, like the Blue Puffles can be adopted by anyone on Club Penguin.
  • Pink Puffles are very active and cheery. They love to exercise by jumping rope or playing on their trampolines.
  • Black Puffles are known to be mischievous and short-tempered. However, they love to play and make a great pet for anyone who likes a little bit of personality. They sometimes catch on fire and will turn red for a short period of time.
  • Yellow Puffles were added November, 2007.[37] They love art and are very active. When playing, Yellow Puffles either will choose between going to paint or film a movie.

[edit] The Penguin Times

Club Penguin has a free virtual weekly newspaper delivered every Thursday. It contains news about Club Penguin and features games, comics, polls, and more. It also has an advice column where a player can write to Aunt Arctic and ask questions about Club Penguin. Any user can submit questions, comics, jokes, and riddles to The Penguin Times, which will be chosen and displayed in the next issue. The Boiler Room under the Night Club contains an archive of newspapers from the last six weeks.[38]

[edit] Calendar dates

Each newspaper edition includes a list of dates that summarize when the next pin will be hidden, when upcoming parties or Club Penguin events will take place, or any other information on changes to games, rooms, the newspaper, or any other interesting information in general.[citation needed]

[edit] Submissions

Players are able to submit jokes, riddles, poems, comics, Fan Art, tips or secrets, and questions to Aunt Arctic. Each week, a few submissions are picked and displayed. As of the 3rd of April, 2008, Aunt Arctic announced that due to a promotion to Chief Editor, players were now able to submit articles, or tips to the Penguin Times, as well as the usual additions. These submissions now have their own unique place in the newspaper, rather than being in a separate pop-up, as they previously were.

[edit] Coins For Change

Coins For Change was an in-game donation available from December 14 to December 24, 2007, in which players could donate their virtual coins to any of three charitable issues: Kids who are sick, The Environment, and Kids in Developing Countries.[39] Players could donate in increments of 50, 250, or 500 virtual coins. At the end of the campaign, the New Horizon Foundation donated a total of $1 million to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Free The Children.[40] The proportion of the 1 million dollars that each organization received depended on how many virtual coins were donated by players toward each issue.[39] For example, if most players donated their virtual coins to the environment, the environmental organization got a higher percentage than the others. Issue #115 of The Penguin Times stated that the standings were:[41]

A total of over two billion virtual coins were donated.[39] Penguins who donated received a postcard thanking them for donating. Every donation station had a box of bells next to it. Penguins, both members and non-members, could take a bell at no cost, whether or not you donated

[edit] Reception and criticism

Club Penguin has generally been well received: the site has been used by positive model when training police in Canada, and it was awarded a "kids' privacy seal of approval" from the Better Business Bureau.[42] Similarly, Brian Ward, a Detective Inspector at the Child Abuse Investigation Command in the United Kingdom, stated that he would far rather children experience a system such as Club Penguin before moving into social networking sites, which provide less protection.[43] In terms of simple popularity, the rapid growth of Club Penguin suggests considerable success, although there are signs that this is leveling out. Nielsen figures released in April, 2008 indicated that in the previous 12 months Club Penguin traffic had shrunk by 7%.[44]

A criticism expressed by commentators is that the game encourages consumerism.[16] While Club Penguin doesn't require members to purchase in-game products with real-life money (instead relying on a set monthly fee), players are encouraged to earn coins within the game with which to buy clothes, decorations, and "puffles" (virtual pets). In addition, the "competitive culture" that this can create has led to concerns about cheating, as children look for "shortcuts" to improve their standing, and, it is suggested, this may influence their real-world behavior.[45] In the game's defense, Club Penguin has added guidelines to prevent cheating, banning players who are caught, and even going after those who encourage the practice outside of the confines of the game.[45] While on the consumerist front, some commentators have stated that the the use of in-game money may help teach children how to save money, choose what to spend it on, and improve their abilities at maths,[15][16] encouraging them to "practice safe money-management skills".[46]

In spite of the attempts to create a safe space for children in Club Penguin, concerns about safety and behavior still arise within the media. While the language in-game is filtered, discussions outside of Club Penguin are beyond their control, and thus it has been stated that the off-site forums can become "as bawdy as any other chat".[17] But even within the game, some commentators have noted that "cyberbullying" can still occur,[47] with flame wars potentially occurring within the game;[48] and the "Caste system" between those who have membership and items and those how lack full membership, (and therefore can't own the "coolest" items) can lead to players having a hard time attracting friends.[17]

One interesting criticism came from Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic Monthly: in relation to the safety procedures, she noted that Club Penguin is "certainly the safest way for unsupervised children to talk to potentially malevolent strangers—but why would you want them to do that in the first place?"[48] While views of the strength of this criticism may vary, the concern was mirrored by Lynsey Kiely in the Sunday Independent, who quoted Karen Mason, Communications Director for Club Penguin, as saying "we can't guarantee that every person who visits the site is a child."[14]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Billybob (2005-10-24). Club Penguin - It's Launched!. Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved on 2006-09-08.
  2. ^ About Club Penguin. Club Penguin. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
  3. ^ a b c d McKenna, Barrie. "Children and penguins turn trio into kingpins", The Globe and Mail, November 13, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-05-16. 
  4. ^ a b Richards, Jonathan. "How Club Penguin turned 750,000 British kids into penguins", The Times, April 28, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-16. 
  5. ^ a b Mlynek, Alex. "Q&A: Club Penguin's Lane Merrifield", Canadian Business, April 28, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-16. 
  6. ^ BDO Dunwoody Announcement. BDO Dunwoody. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  7. ^ Shields, Mike (2007). "Avatar Nation". MediaWeek 17 (44). 
  8. ^ a b Walmsley, Andrew. "Kids' virtual worlds are maturing nicely", Marketing, October 24, 2007. 
  9. ^ Brooks, Barnes. "Wary of Losing Out Online, Disney Buys Site for Children", The New York Times, August 2, 2007. 
  10. ^ BillyBob (March 10, 2008). Welcome!!. Club Penguin Improvement Project: Blog. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  11. ^ BillyBob (April 14, 2008). New website and new servers. Club Penguin Improvement Project: Blog. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  12. ^ BillyBob (March 10, 2008). Account Questions. Club Penguin Improvement Project: Blog. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  13. ^ BillyBob (April 4, 2008). Server Test Success!!. Club Penguin Improvement Project: Blog. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  14. ^ a b Kiely, Lynsey. "C-c-c-click on clubpenguin", Sunday Independent, January 14, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-25. 
  15. ^ a b c Reid, Alice. "Breaking the Ice - Club Penguin Allows Kids to Safely Explore the World of Online Gaming and Chatting", The Washington Post, October 18, 2007. 
  16. ^ a b c Navarro, Mireya. "Pay Up, Kid, or Your Igloo Melts", The New York Times, October 28, 2007. 
  17. ^ a b c d Robertson, Heather-Jane (2007). "Postman Does Penguins". Phi Delta Kappan 88 (5). 
  18. ^ Diaz, Sam; Yang, Xiyun. "Playground Networking, Now Online - Social Sites Aim at Users Too Young for MySpace", The Washington Post, August 3, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-25. 
  19. ^ a b Rushe, Dominic. "Hooking the kids with the internet", The Sunday Times, November 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-25. 
  20. ^ Dwyer, Michael. "Virtual kids", The Age, November 29, 2007. 
  21. ^ Billybob (August 31, 2006). NOW OPEN!!!. Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
  22. ^ Billybob (November 7, 2006). Lots of New Stuff!!. Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
  23. ^ a b c Garofoli, Joe. "I'm 8, I'm late for an online date with a cuddly penguin", San Francisco Chronicle, May 27, 2007. 
  24. ^ Merrifield, Lane; Males, Mike; Flanagan, Caitlin (2007). "Safety First?". The Atlantic Monthly 300 (3): p. 17. 
  25. ^ a b c d e Jesdanun, Anick. "Safety questioned as younger kids flock to Internet - Parents need to set guidelines, limits", Chicago Tribune, July 23, 2007. 
  26. ^ a b Williamson, David. "Why Many Children Are Now Picking a Penguin as Their Favourite Online Friend", Western Mail, January 5, 2008. 
  27. ^ a b Reid, Alice. "Safe surfing: Club Penguin is a G-rated MySpace-type site that gives kids a safer way to mingle online", The Washington Post, October 18, 2007. 
  28. ^ "Is It Safe?". Club Penguin Q&A for Parents. Retrieved on 2006-10-03.
  29. ^ "Breaking the Rules" and "How a Penguin is Banned". Club Penguin Communicating. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  30. ^ a b Why Become a Member?. Club Penguin. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  31. ^ Jasper1357 (2007-12-17). "Club Penguin Game Cards Coming Soon!!!". Club Penguin Developer Blog. Club Penguin. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  32. ^ a b Davison, Pete (March 25, 2008). Get the Facts on Club Penguin. What They Play. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  33. ^ Billybob (November 16, 2007). The Stage!!. Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
  34. ^ Billybob (January 09, 2008). The Heart Emote is Coming Back!. Club Penguin Developer Blog. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
  35. ^ Puffle. Club Penguin. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
  36. ^ Adopt a Puffle (in-game catalog). Club Penguin. Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
  37. ^ "Yellow Puffles Discovered" (November 22, 2007). Club Penguin Times (110). 
  38. ^ "Newspaper". Club Penguin Help. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  39. ^ a b c Club Penguin Users Grant Million Dollar Christmas Wish. ClubPenguin.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  40. ^ Rucker, Philip. "For Modern Kids, 'Philanthropy' Is No Grown-Up Word", The Washington Post, December 30, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-22. 
  41. ^ "Coins for Change: Donation Announcement" (December 25, 2007). Club Penguin Times (#155). 
  42. ^ Green, Elizabeth Weiss (March 19, 2007). "Clique on to Penguin". U.S. News & World Report 142 (10). 
  43. ^ "Kids' online community growing fast", The Australian, October 9, 2007. 
  44. ^ McCarthy, Caroline (May 20, 2008). Nielsen: MySpace, Club Penguin growth static, LinkedIn soaring. CNet. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  45. ^ a b Benderoff, Eric. "Young gamers may be learning the art of cheating", Chicago Tribune, March 07, 2007. 
  46. ^ Bishop, Tricia. "Sites aimed at preteens gaining in popularity - Marketers courting children ages 6-12 as their spending soars", Chicago Tribune, April 8, 2007. 
  47. ^ Charkes, Juli S.. "Cracking Down on the Cyberbully", The New York Times, March 30, 2008. 
  48. ^ a b Flanagan, Caitlin. "Babes in the Woods", The Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2007. Retrieved on 2008-05-24. 

[edit] External links

Club Penguin Sites
External Sites