User:Sbar3/sandbox

Club Penguin was full of advertisements for their paid membership that repeatedly encouraged children to subscribe in order to gain access to the full range of activities. These advertisements included notices that certain levels of games and items were reserved for paid members and even included paid members that unwittingly acted as recruiters. Additionally, there was Club Penguin merchandise sold through the website and in Disney Retail stores that would unlock items and coins in the game. In this way, Disney positioned children as economic subjects that became acculturated to shopping as a key cultural practice.

Some researchers were concerned that due to the differing experiences and privileges between paid and non-paid members, children would be exposed to a class system where some would be competing for higher and higher status. Others worried that the display of class and promotion of consumerism within Club Penguin fosters the notion that the accumulation of wealth and possessions are the direct result of one’s success and status.

The design of virtual worlds, like Club Penguin, provide children with opportunities to develop literacy and communication skills while having a powerful impact on their social relationships and identity formation. One literary practice involved players frequently engaged in semiotic analysis of other player profiles, which was a display of that player’s identity within the game. Other literacy and communication practices included the use of the in game postal service and the of emoticons, which served to build social cohesion and structure.

Friendship groups were often formed based off of these assumptions and would frequently segregate between members and nonmembers.

Critics believe that normal social interactions, which are integral to social development, are being replaced by the online interactions found in Club Penguin and that the modeling and exposure of inappropriate behavior would negatively impact children’s social skills.

Club Penguin had a unique form of anti-social behavior and cyberbullying that presented as angry emoticons, relentless throwing of snowballs at other players and some messages were able to get through the filtered chat. Additionally, some critics have noted the presence of strong sexual connotations due to the modeling of romantic relationships and behaviors.