Habbo Hotel: Social Networking in the MySpace Tradition

Habbo Hotel is a social networking website and chat room aimed for teenage users. It features a wide selection of locations and chat room communities, but with a twist: users are allowed to create and design a character of their own, and move the character around in a digital 3-D world.

Characters move between different venues and chat rooms, playing built-in mini games and tweaking their individual characters with new clothes and hairstyles. And as with any typical networking site, the main attraction for users is the ability to meet new people and make new friends.

According to Mashable.com, the site was founded in 2000 and was on track to make $77 million as of June 2006. The site is financed primarily through its use of Habbo coins, which can be purchased via cell phone, debit card or credit card. The coins are used to obtain several in-world items, such as gifts for friends or furnishings for their digital homes. The site also generates funds through the use of in-world billboard advertisements.

Like other social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, what teens find so appealing about the site is the ability to interact with millions of new people. But how does it stack up in terms of quality? Is it as fun as other sites out there? Is it safer?

The main drawback of the site is that it isn't free-almost everything on it costs money. It's free to sign up and free to chat with friends, but that's about it. The mini games cost money to play, as does the furniture and upgrades in the hotel room-even a dip in the Habbo Hotel pool costs money. The cost may not seem like much but at 20 cents a pop, expenses can add up quickly.