GaiaOnline.com - Cute Online Hangout for Young Teens

GaiaOnline is a social network for teens which relies on cutesy virtual characters. Think Habbo Hotel or Second Life. The Gaia world is filled with fun and games. Inhabitants can flex their creative skills in art contests and in the poetry forums. They can while away hours tweaking with their avatar's appearance, playing dress-up, frolicking with pets, and going shopping. Each member can in fact set up their own store and sell their virtual wares or auction them off to their friends. More than 50,000 auctions are completed each day. Additionally, Gaia has tons of casual, cute games, fashion contests, and even art events to display the best talents. Users can watch movies and shows courtesy of Gaia Cinemas and they can read comics. The site is free for all.

"Founded in 2003 by a few comic book fans in a garage, Gaia Online has become the fastest-growing hangout on the web. Millions of teens come to Gaia every month to play games, make friends, and participate in the world's most active online community.
Gaia provides a fun, social environment that inspires individuality and creativity. With everything from art contests and poetry forums to fully customizable profiles and digital characters, Gaia is a place where teens can create their own space and express their individual style."

Gaia has quite a feature set. If kids aren't drawn in by the adorable avatars, they will surely come for the shopping, the cinema, the art and the activities. The site already attracts 300,000 members daily and gets nearly 2 million unique visitors each month.

What's next for Gaia?