This is an example of a virtual world. "Show off your creativity by building and decorating your avatar world, a full 3D Home that expands as you play! You can also meet new people in public hangout spaces, attend live events within Smeet, try out items brought to you by our partnerships with popular artists and brands and complete fun tasks. In order to make Smeet a personalized and user-friendly experience, we also offer a special virtual world for teens where they can interact with other users their own age and chat about everything from Pop stars, music and movies to teachers, classes, and homework. The virtual world for adults allows users the opportunity to show off the latest Smeet styles, playfully meet and flirt with new people, and create an exciting online life."

article about how virtual worlds were used to help this child. "When a troubled 13-year-old named Joe first entered the Kids in Transition program in 2007 in Camden, N.J., he hardly spoke to his therapist. Like many teens at this residential mental health treatment facility, he was admitted because he had trouble controlling his anger, had run away from home several times, and had a history of run-ins with the law, according to Heather Foley, a social worker with the program. Therapists typically encourage patients like Joe to get at the core of their problems via face-to-face role-playing-pretending to be in a situation and having the patient practice how to handle it. But Foley says this approach was a nonstarter for Joe, whose confrontational behavior and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) impair his ability to engage and focus in this way."

shows the size of some of the game worlds. "If you're a true gamer, you know that size does matter - in the virtual world, that is. Here's a look at the largest land-based video games out there. "

this article talks about the good and bad things that are with virtual worlds. "People are friendly by nature. We want to connect and meet others - it's in our genetic make-up. The last few years have made this easier than ever."

10 things to do to be safe on xbox live "It's more than just a gaming site. Xbox LIVE users can also chat with each other, send and receive friend requests, and share their profile and gaming stats.xBox Kids Safety uKnowKids Gamertags need to be chosen wisely. Never let your child use part of their name, hometown, or other identifying information in their gamertag. Profiles follow the child, not the console. A child can still access all his Xbox LIVE information from a friend's house. Kids can play games with strangers. Xbox LIVE has a "matchmaking" feature to help your child connect with gamers who have certain gamerscores or live in a certain location. People can privately chat with each other. Up to 8 people can play and talk all at once, but two of them can pair off and talk privately if they want to. You can make your permission mandatory. Through console controls, you can require your permission for your child to send and receive friend requests, accept game or chat invites, or buy Xbox merchandise. You can block who your child hears. You can choose "everyone," "friends," or "no one." Parents are required to help their children set up an account. If your under-18 child has an account and you didn't help set it up, he or she is registered as an adult. Default settings vary by age. Child and teen accounts are mostly "friends only" by default and some features are blocked, but adult profiles are public and have full access to all features. Deactivating Xbox LIVE doesn't cancel the child's account. On the Xbox console there is a setting to disallow Xbox LIVE access from that console - but your child can still access it on others unless you cancel his account."

This is some more of the virtual worlds teens are on. "Virtual worlds for teens Kids don't outgrow virtual worlds when they hit their teenage years. Many virtual worlds are geared toward the teenage set and they are gaining popularity every day. Meez - With over 80 casual games and multimedia sharing, Meez is a great site for teens. Avatars can navigate different neighborhoods, interact with friends, leave messages and watch videos. Teens can customize avatars that can be exported to other social networks and gaming sites. RuneScape - The RuneScape world is a medieval fantasy realm where players travel through different kingdoms and cities. Users create customizable avatars, fight monsters, complete quests, play games, chat and trade with others, and much more. Both free and premium memberships are available. IMVU - Intended for the teen crowd, IMVU boasts over 100 million users in 88 different countries and has a virtual goods catalog of over 10 million items. Users can search for people based on gender, location and age or join groups based on interests or personal opinions. SuperSecret - In SuperSecret, players start at age 10 and grow up to age 18 by achieving things in a variety of games. As users get older within the games, they get more privileges - at 16 they can drive a virtual car, at 18 they can vote, etc."

Here are some of the virtual worlds on the web today.

women playing xbox live getting harrassed "Over six days of competition, though, her team's coach, Aris Bakhtanians, interrogated her on camera about her bra size, said "take off your shirt" and focused the team's webcam on her chest, feet and legs. He leaned in over her shoulder and smelled her."

Interesting topic about sexuality on Xbox Live. ""I was harassed by several players, 'chased' to different maps/games to get away from their harassment. They followed me into the games and told all the other players to turn me in because they didn't want to see that crap or their kids to see that crap… as if Xbox live is really appropriate for kids anyways!" "

kids are happier with their virtual lives than they are with their real lives "Children are often happier with their online lives than they are with reality, a survey has revealed. They say they can be exactly who they want to be - and as soon as something is no longer fun they can simply hit the quit button. The study also shows that, despite concerns about online safety, one in eight young people is in contact with strangers when on the web and often lies about their appearance, age and background. "