So, what’s new about this New Media?
And the biggest question, I believe, is what’s new about Webkinz? With it’s creation in 2005, Webkinz has created a new “play time” for children. It has amputated the way children play with toys and one another. Now, they simply log online, enter their “secret code” (the only real value of the plush animal) and get lost in the Webkinz virtual world.
They interact with other users in the chat room but are only able to ask pre-written questions. How they interact is controlled by the designer. No longer do children create kingdoms for their stuffed animals and build forts to house them in. Instead, there’s the internet and building another life of their own on the computer. Instead of holding the stuffed animals, they control them with the click of a mouse. Not nearly as personal an interaction as I remember. The interaction becomes one with the computer and a connection with the internet, not the animal. God forbid the internet went out, how would the children play!?!
I’m worried that Webkinz has changed the way my sister interacts. I suppose it’s great that they are becoming more familiar with the internet at a younger age, but I worry that this will desensitize them from real life. Do they get so lost in this virtual world that they will forgot how to interact face to face? It will be interesting to analyze their people skills as I watch them grow up. Will they refer to stock questions when they meet people (as in the Webkinz chat room you can only click on pre-written questions when interacting with another user)? Time will only tell how this new media will affect our youth.
