stardoll

A very popular virtual dress-up website, aimed at teenage girls, although recently a lot of guys have joined. Was originally mostly populated by teens from the USA, but now is particularly popular amongst teens in Ireland for some reason. Stardoll features a large number of features for its users, which vary depending on whether the user has superstar (paid membership) or non-superstar (free membership). These features include: -Dressing up online celebrity dolls, including but not limited to Miley Cyrus, Ashley Tisdale, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, and a number of real brands including DKNY. -A 'StarPlaza' in which users can purchase virtual clothing items, with virtual currencly known as 'Stardollars'. More stardollars can by obtained for a user by purchasing superstar membership, unlocking extra features, such as StarBazaar, for said user. -A virtual magazine which features one user who has acheived the highest 'covergirl' votes. This user wins 25 stardollars and becomes popular almost instantly. -A 'Stardesign' which allows users to design a pattern using a variety of preset shapes and colours, turning this to into a clothing item and virtually buying it (only available to superstars, unless a promotion is present) and occasionaly, selling it to other users via StarBazaar. -A 'My page' which works as a profile for the individual user. This feature allows the user to write their own presentation and create a virtual flash suite and decorate it with various decorations, interior designs, and fill their virtual wardrobe. -A 'Medoll' in which each user can create their own virtual medoll and choose their basic features, such as hairstyle, hair colour, eye colour, etc. Other features such as makeup and accessories can be purchased in the StarPlaza, however, a majority of these are only available to superstar members. -A 'club' feature, in which members can join a virtual club and participate in discussions, sign a guestbook, create club sceneries and superstar members can even start their own club. Clubs can be about anything, including a band of interest, however, recently a lot of 'adult' clubs have become present, posing a risk to the younger Stardoll members. Also, Stardoll's most popular club, Animal-lovers, has united hundreds of members, not always in a good way. For instance, a number of rather dramatic feuds may have originated in this club, including a variety of ridiculous phenomenons, such as 'virtual parties', 'popular lists', and dirty stories. The owner of this club never seems to be online to control this club, so clearly this my cause a lot of distress to the members who try to moderate the club by themselves, but I don't blame them! Of course there are many other features on the website, but here I have just outlined most of the main ones. Although there are some lovely people on Stardoll, who I've had the pleasure to meet and interact with, there are way too many scammers, hackers and liars, and generally unpleasant people. This includes a number of the 'elites', a fairly recent phenomenon, which basically means users who are on Stardoll 24/7, have pretty much ALL the rare clothes, are usually virtual models for a virtual Stardoll-related magazine (such as Style Magazine) and usually have a very obnoxious personality. They are also difficult to communicate with, so avoid these people at all costs. Children under the age of eleven generally should stay away from joining any of these clubs, in particular Animal-Lovers as this club tends to be more appropriate for older users. If you are a member of Stardoll, your best bet is probably to join Animal-Lovers and make friends with some of the nice people (but avoid the popular people as they tend to be very unpleasant), and just try not to be one of these popular people. Join in conversations which interest you, and stay away from topics made by the 'popular people'. These topics can be identified as containing 'deep' *sarcasm* lyrics, usually by something along the lines of My Chemical Romance or Fall Out Boy, usually made by a 'guy' with an emo hairstyle on said person's medoll, and most of the time, getting at least five replies within twenty seconds of posting. If you post in these topics, the intelligent people will automatically label you as stupid (don't let this happen to you). Stardoll gossip blogs are also a very popular fad. Although to some people they are very addictive to read, try to stay away from these blogs as they might distract you from the fact that Stardoll is just a virtual website, and might make you think that it's real life. This is due to the fact that the authors of these blogs often tend to think of the latest feuds that happen on Stardoll as very similar to those that may happen to real life. Again, don't let this happen to you! You should also be careful when buying Superstar membership, as this tends to be a risky decision. Users who ungrade their account to superstar often find that it is very addictive and once your superstar membership you tend to buy it again. You should only really buy superstar if you're really, really, desparate. That's it really. You're supposed to enjoy Stardoll, not take it too seriously.