Virtual worlds aimed at youth are a hot sector online, as this Virtual Worlds News summary updates. At the first of this month I heard a presentation by the top people from Mattel who are in charge of Barbiegirl.com, one of the booming virtual worlds for kids. The speakers said the Barbiegirl.com virtual world now has 11 million members and thousands are joining daily. 86% of the girls eight years old or older. A wealth of information about what is happening in the virtual world sector is provided in at summary at Virtual Worlds Management, that explains:

The VIRTUAL WORLDS MANAGEMENTS YOUTH WORLDS ANALYSIS provides details on more than 100 worlds. In all there are 60 youth worlds currently live. Another 53 are in concepting, development, or testing phases. The general tween category (here looked at as 8 to 12) has the most interest with 62 worlds live or in development, followed closely by kids worlds (7 and under) with 52 worlds live or in development and then teens (13-18 years old) with 44 worlds live or in development. The complete list, including the operational status, demographic focus and detailed news coverage on each virtual world can be found below.