at the virtual hotel

Interesting stuff, this Habbo hotel? Not really, in my humble opinion. The experience, first, and then some further analysis.

The experience

The visual is impressive, the interface quite easy to use. But the people who hang out there are... bizarre? I had a few encounters. Here is a summary.

The first person I "spoke to" was a man "working" at the counter of the Adidas gym, offering me a great deal: buy a pair of sneakers, get free movie passes. As if I cared. I went on with my quest for a meaningful discussion to talk with a girl, sitting at a table in that same "gym". We started talking about why I was here - a class -, who she was - a 12 grader bored with studying for exams -, and about what to do next. We agreed to visit the MTV space.

That new room was packed... with people who did not want to talk. I was told to "go away" by a really friendly woman "sitting on a couch" with a man. Other people just basically ignored me, or offered to have sex. I decided to go away to the McDonald lunch room (even though I haven't had McDonald's in more than 5 years and just finished reading "Fast Food Nation"), where I found a bunch of people talking incomprehensible jargon:

"...e. l... ..i..e. a..."
"...l.. o..l.. ....e ..p"

I thought this was a very interesting conversation indeed, all the more when it was interrupted by advertising for BigMacs and Diet Cokes, and finally decided to I try to meet my kind - the nerdy type - at the library, where I finally found a guy polite enough to answer my questions. So, I asked: What is this place about? "It is a place to meet with your friends." "You meet your friends here?" "Yes, otherwise this place is packed with weirdos." Thanks, Dude! And sorry if I forget your name. :s

Further Analysis

To me, this place seemed like a new advertising strategy from "hip" companies like McDonalds, Coke, Adidas, and MTV, who want to get special access to teenagers. Otherwise, teens using the website seemed to be close to illiterate, extremely rude, and none of the conversations I could "see" - because I was not able to follow any of them - seemed to have any depth to them.

The credit purchasing business seems really odd to me, probably because I am somewhat of pop-culturally illiterate. Why would anyone buy virtual "furni", or decorate these spaces? Again, yet another way to turn teenagers into consumers.

As a meeting place, it is awkward, unless you go there with a bunch of friends and "pretend" to hang out. I don't understand why, however, one would prefer the habbo setting to any MSN chat - more private, fits more easily on the screen while you are doing something else, allows the use of a digital camera, permits fonts, etc. - or to plain email. You won't see me there ever again: this corporate haven for teens is not my thing.

(Image taken here, on the Habbo Hotel Canada website.)