If you're 13 years or older and are looking for a simple place to chat with newly found best friends, ZWINKTOPIA.COM might just be the place for you. Once you download the free program, head on over to your Zwinky's (avatar) dressing room to outfit him/her with an emotion (silly, sobbing, sick), personalized hair, makeup, outfit, body type, and accessories -- and not just belts and sunglasses: How about a PDA, a glass of red wine, or a "U R A Loser" candy heart? Your avatar can also be supplied with knitting materials, playing cards, or a guitar, and can be imbedded into personal MySpace pages or blogs. Some things such as background scenes or cool haircuts are locked and can only be accessed by earning ZBucks, Zwinktopia's online currency.

Games are the easiest way to rack up ZBucks. Each place you visit has a corresponding themed game: At the beach, play SubZ, where you have to dodge sharks; or organize beans in the coffee shop's Barista Challenge. It's too bad that there aren't more games and that most of the ones that do exist are quite silly and boring. And, you can go through your hard-earned cash in no time at the mall where you pop into stores that sell everything from surf wear to punk gear. The best part of the shopping experience is that you can try things on before buying them.

The main attraction of Zwinktopia is the chat feature. And, just because you're online, it doesn't mean that talking to folks gets any easier. Social interactions can be just as awkward in Zwinktopia as they sometimes are in the real world. Many of the chat locations have several avatars merely standing around waiting for someone to say something. When someone finally does say something, it's along the lines of: "What up?" "NM (not much)" "Koo" (cool). But unlike most live, in-person conversations, online chatting can get very personal, very quickly, with avatars asking other avatars for information or to come visit them in person. It's not unusual for people to give up their own location, age, email addresses, MySpace page URLs, etc., as well. Be warned that even though filters automatically replace bad words with "(bleep)," there are ways around it -- typing "fu" instead of "f--k you" or "ssseeexy" instead of "sexy," for example.

If you do trust another avatar, you can invite him/her to be your friend. But, if you want to have a friend that isn't in your age group (17 and under or 18 and older), you need to know the person's email address to send an invitation. Once the invitation is accepted, you can correspond via ZNotes -- online emails that are posted on your Profile Page and may be viewed by the public. You can remove a ZNote from your Profile Page at any time.

For more adventures with avatars, head on over to teen.secondlife.com or Meez.com. But, keep in mind that with any online world there's a potential for offensive material to somehow get through filters.

*Source: iVillage, May 2007