Review: The Online Community of Gaia

Gaia is a Japanese animation based (called anime) social Networking site. Staring off as an anime link list it went through few changes in format to finally become a popular social gaming site. Its popularity can be gauged by the fact that it gets over a million forum posts each day.

Account creation in Gaia is simple and it is followed by a guided tour of the site explaining most of Gaia’s community features. Gaia provides ample opportunities to earn what is known as Gaia gold. User can start by simply verifying their email address and taking the online tour of the various Gaia communities. Participating in forum posts is also encouraged by rewarding gold. Apart from Gaia gold there is Gaia cash also which is bought by actual cash.

Gaia is a great interactive teen hangout with very less moderators and restrictions. Users can form guilds and have their own friend's list. Parents should take a guided tour of the game first before allowing their kids to the site, as the discussions in Gaia boards range from sex, abuses and other adult materials. To Gaia's merit, it does offers the option of reporting violation by clicking the button located in each thread or post .If the content is found in violation to the terms and condition of the site it is removed. Users, if found guilty, are also blocked from the site if they for writing inappropriate material. But mostly the monitoring by moderators themselves is of very limited nature.

Gaia offers a varied community with over twenty sub forums with hundreds of different topics in each. These forums give a forum to teenagers to discuss issues which they cannot discuss openly elsewhere. Users can get creative by writing long stories and drawing their characters. There is also assistance given for honing their skills. There are lots of options for customizing the avatars by buying clothes, accessories and numerous other items by Gaia gold. These avatars can roam in the Gaian towns which consist of virtual homes and users can visit each other's homes, interact with each other and collect items and gold along the way. These virtual homes can be decorated by buying furniture from Furniture stores, can be expanded and even can be moved from one place to another. There are 11 flash games to keep users hooked like Jigsaw, Word Bump, Rally, Slots, Cards and Pinball.

Gaia market also offers range of activities from shopping for avatars, homes etc to trading of things. Users can also sell their items or buy high end items using Gaia Cash. These engaging shopping activities provide a lesson in how the money works in actual world.