It doesn’t surprise me that Neopets is built on immersive advertising. Although children are more vulnerable to being exploited by commercial interests, this is not limited to the online media world. Product placement surrounds them in all aspects of their lives- everything around them at home, at school, through interactions with family, teachers, friends- both adults and peers. Media exposure appears to be a new force that is just competing with the existing forces. Willis (2001) did propose that children have the ability to extract individual use value from commodities–using them as tools for self-expression, for articulating social relationships, and for understanding the world around them. At the end of the day, Neopets do allow children to “adopt participatory roles in the creation of online content and contribute in meaningful ways to online environments, including games and communities.” It is a platform in which they can grow socially and cognitively. There are clear benefits and harms from engaging in the Neopets community. Even though Neopets exploit the best interests of young users—we do live in a world where our interests are exploited by the media. What incentives do Neopets have for creating something that is less profitable?

If the industry is profiting from capitalizing on children’s non-educational interests, what incentives do they have for pursuing these recommendations?