Habbo: Viva virtual playground
Jason Hill writes: "When they have time for play, millions of teenagers around the world don’t fire up a gaming console or load a PC game, they enter Habbo.
Whether you dub Habbo an online world, a social networking website, or just a digital play space, there is no argument over its popularity. Habbo now enjoys more than 100 million registered users, with the average play session lasting more than an hour.
Habbo was created in Finland a decade ago as a "new way to meet friends online". Jeff Brookes, regional director for Asia-Pacific, says Habbo quickly grew from a hobby project to "an international phenomenon".
Mr Brookes says the average Habbo user is 15 and the split between genders is even. He believes the key attractions are "social interactivity and user-generated content".
"Habbos can explore public hang-outs, play a variety of games, connect with friends, decorate their own rooms and have fun through creativity and self-expression. Each user can walk around and chat."
