Stardoll.com - A Complete Overview

Stardoll.com is a virtual paper doll site for anyone who enjoys fashion, design, and making friends all over the world. On Stardoll, you can create your own Me doll and also choose from their always growing selection of Celebrity dolls, which range from stars like Miley Cyrus to Beatrix Potter. All of the celebrity dolls have their own unique wardrobe of clothes and accessories and there are new stars released every week, with this weeks star being Joe Jonas of The Jonas Brothers band. Stardolls target audience ranges in age from 7-17, both boys and girls. Though I've found with my time on the site that there are several adults on the site also.

General membership on the site is absolutely free. Most the games such as Dress Up Stardolls, the ability to save dolls in an Album, and making your own unique Me doll are free. Stardollars are the currency used on Stardoll and 1 U.S. dollar is equal to 8 stardollars. Every member receives $25 stardollars as a starting amount upon verifying their email address when they sign up. That is an incentive so that the user can purchase a few articles of clothing, the Me doll only begins with underclothes (bra and panties).

Superstar membership is Stardolls exclusive V.I.P membership club. Superstar membership is paid per month in several different ways. Stardoll accepts every type of payment, from credit card to Aussie Pay. As a Stardoll Superstar, you have access to everything the site has to offer. The user can buy and sell their clothes in their own vintage Star Bazaar, which is like a yard sale. Instead of a 1 room suite, the Superstar member receives a 3 room suite for the user to design with various different styles of furniture and housing accessories. There are 50% off sales from time to time that only the Superstar member can have access to . High end clothing, such as DKNY, MaryKate and Ashley, Sephora, and also clothing inspired by high end designers such as Gucci and Coach to name a few, are reserved for the Superstar Member. The Superstar Member also receives a Superstar Badge over their Me dolls avatar.

This website is an awesome place where kids can express themselves through the appearance of a virtual doll. Just as with any other site in the web, children have to be careful of what personal information they are sharing. The site also does to allow for phone numbers to be exchanged which is great for parents. When a number sequence is 10 digits or more, a line of asterisks will show up in place of the numbers when the child hits enter. Also, they have some protection against foul language but every now and then I've seen a few words get through the monitoring system. Also, for your child's own protection, when making a new account, if the child registers under the age of 12, the parent has send Stardoll a signed parental consent form. The kids do get around that though by easily changing their year of birth when registering. That lets the child bypass the trouble of mommy and daddy having to sign a permission slip. And also, changing of the year to an age 12 of over gives the child instant access to the site.

Overall, the site is absolutely impressive from a members view. As a parent, I believe the site can be a playground for pedophiles and other low life's that may want to take advantage of gullible children. I became a member of the Stardoll " Community" while trying to find an outlet to bond with my daughter, and to also stay "hands on" with her Internet activities. So I do recommend this site for parents to allow their little girls and boys to play on, but like with any other on line activities your child participates in, stay alert...and maybe even join in!!