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Wired writer David Kushner looks at Neopets' culture in "The Neopet Addiction." He traces the site's evolution from a simple page into the giant destination it has become. When Neopets founders Adam Powell and Donna Williams connected with Doug Dohring, the site took off. Dohring is a Scientologist and brought some of the principles of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard's business models (which were fashioned after 80 trillion year old galactic empires — yes, I just wrote that) to the Neopets framework. Whatever works, right? Chill out, alarmists, the kids aren't being zombified by Scientology. Depending on who you ask they are being zombified by the Neopets' experience. Kalle Lasn, editor in chief of Adbusters, said, "They're encouraging kids to spend hours in front of the screen and at the same time recruiting them into consumer culture," Lasn says. "It's the most insidious mind-fuck ever." Hey, I spend hours in front of the computer screen every day, too....
The Neopets Addiction [Wired]
