Stealing the Age of Innocence: A Critique of the Commodification of Children’s Culture Through an Analysis of NeoPets

Abstract

This paper functions as both a reflection on the promotion of digital technologies to children, and as an investigation into the commodification of children's culture, using NeoPets as the primary focus of the exploration. Specifically, the development of the child/user to targeted consumer is analyzed, with a focus on website's marketing techniques. While NeoPets provides a virtual “fun” world that caters to children, another reason to ponder the significance of this on-line community is to better understand how its technological and marketing savvy function as exploitive tools. Moreover, it is imperative to address the lack of policies, in Canada and the United States, in order to affect eventual progressive changes in both countries.