Parents' Guide to

GaiaOnline

By Lucy Maher, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Iffy content + constant consumerism = caution.

Website http://www.gaiaonline.com/
GaiaOnline Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this website.

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 124 parent reviews

Di0sma
Di0sma Adult
June 1, 2020
age 17+

If you are 17+ WITH money...

... then you will have a fun time. IF you are willing to spend real money on virtual items that could be gone for good once this site is down. xD Other than that, i think you would need a time machineto go back over 10 years to have a good time on Gaia without spening money. Games and events were much better back then, these days you mostly have these forum games where you quote someone or collect stupid eggs (last easter even), so that when you have enought collected you can get items that aren't even half good these days. Don't get me wrong, the items you can buy with real money are really good, but the free stuff these days most of the times looks like something they fotgot over ten years ago and thought "well, new there would be day we could use this crap". But even the new items have so many layering problems sometimes, you can't even use them correctly. I can respect some of the other reviews here, but i will not praise a site that literally feeds of so called "whales", people who have money, but also have a higher chance of getting addicted. GaiaOnline supports gambling addiction when it comes to spending money on their site. Random Item Generater or Chance Item Generator are similar to Lootboxes, actually scratch the similar. They are the same. Something that gets EA a shitstorm, but Gaia is okay, because its really mostly kids and teens who lose their pocketmoney for. They don't have any hotline for gambling addiction, spam you with announcements for new item generators and limited items. Until they have an actual (REAL) service hotline for gambling addiction, i will call them Casino. They are nothing more than that these days. This point still triggers me, as a site that wants to be PG, they release litterally slutty demon/angel items. This is not a joke, you can have an avatar, that has a chick kneeling down and begging for the obvious, with a chain around her neck.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
1 person found this helpful.
ArthurZ
ArthurZ Adult
May 3, 2019
age 18+

Not a family friendly website!

GaiaOnline claims to be a friendly place for kids whom are 14 years or older. The website features a ton of sexually suggestive items among other things. There are people on there who have talked about dating younger people (18+ dating 16 year olds). This website tries to be a cash cow and attempts to squeeze any and all pennies it can out of you. The ToS isn't very clear and after spending a month on the site, it doesn't look like there is anyone who actually moderates the site. There are random pictures of actual naked users on there, there's people who talk about wanting to kill themselves and there's just a ton of horrible people on this site.

This title has:

Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
1 person found this helpful.
See all 124 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Log on to Gaia Online and play games, connect with other 13- to 18-year-old anime fans, collect downloadable wallpaper for cell phones, and buy items in virtual stores with Gaia Cash, which is earned with every session spent on the site. The first stop after your free sign-up is creating your avatar. When kids want to meet new people, they can hang out in virtual spaces such as the town and Virtual Hollywood, where they can chat and go clubbing. Kids also have the opportunity to earn extra Gaia Cash by participating in advertised offers such as completing surveys, signing up for free trials, watching videos, etc.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (124):
Kids say (167):

Though the site appears to be kid-friendly and moderators are supposed to be trolling the boards for inappropriate images, racist and sexist language, and adult content, if you don't use the word filter it's rampant with such fare. For example, on a recent visit, the following threads appeared: "Your best WTF moment was…?" "What are your fave pick-up lines?" "Masturbation Myths and Fads" and "Poll: I wanna have sex with a boy." Perhaps the moderators were asleep at the wheel or their safety claim is just that -- a claim. Either way, it'd be good to sit down with the kids as they surf the site or just steer them away. There are plenty of others with cleaner content and just as robust audiences.

Online interaction: While some users may find support and camaraderie in the forums, there is also a lot of negativity.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about maintaining boundaries online. What steps can you take to maintain your safety in a chat room? What information should you keep private in personal profiles and chat rooms?

Website Details

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