Disney is not buying Stardoll, calm down, folks.

Time to discuss yet another fake rumor circulating around the MSW club of late.

 

But before I grace you with a winded rant, I'd just like to inform you that, although this was just recently brought to my attention, it is an old rumor from last year. According to the rumors, Disney had allegedly released a statement saying that they were considering (and very likely) buying Stardoll and re-naming it (examples in the alleged statement include "Disdoll" "Princessdoll"), introducing their own take on it, as well as "Disney-fying" it. (What that means, I have no idea, but I know it can't be good.) Stardoll also would be "...transformed overnight!" according to the ecstatic statement.

 

This statement was in fact a huge sham; a rumor spread around by a younger user who wanted to rile up Stardoll into a state of confusion and anxiety.

 

Think about it: Disney wouldn't be so unprofessional as to release a very poorly-written statement about their business deals. Pompous windbags they may be, but they certainly aren't idiots. It even looks like a 10-year old with moderate spelling and halfway decent Photoshop skills could have done it, according to lel1996's blog. Secondly, Stardoll would have also released a statement earlier, since I can acredit them for at least being honest with their release of information.

 

After this story was confirmed a fake, another rumor branched out, stating that there was "proof" that the Disney-buying-Stardoll rumors were true. Here is an exerpt from a paragraph of an article that was released...

 

"And so to the future of the story. Stardoll.com is clearly being grown and groomed into the sort of shape where it will be sold on to the next stage. Possible buyers are rumored and speculated about in the business and trade papers, with the Disney corporation currently heading the ante-post betting. If a sale does take place down the road, Liisa Wrang will get her cut as a shareholder, and she will become a wealthy woman once again..."

This is all a rumor, and neither Stardoll or Disney would be so careless with the way they release their business dealings.



Get a Speech Ready...

The little title-meme was a sample of some of the advice I received in a Dollmail from Stardoll. After reading further, I discovered why having a "speech" ready would be necessary!

It seems that Stardoll has developed a new addition to their Starpoint system! And this one's the icing on the cake!

So basically, we have to spend more to get more, right? I mean, it's practically what they're endorsing here. An understandable theory, but not something that you'd want to apply to a website like Stardoll. It makes absolutely no sense to me why we would need these, anyway. So for every little accomplishment, you receive one of these tacky trophies, that get shown on a shelf above your presentation. I can already imagine how this might have gone down among the Stardoll staff when bringing this idea up to the table.

"Guys, we need to think of a way to re-vamp our Starpoint system."

"Why? I think it's good enough the way it is."

"There's nothing particularly wrong with the old one--"

"Ahem, excuse me, but we've redone practically all of Stardoll now. We need to redo the Starpoint system or people won't want to visit us because we're so lame. I mean, guys, we're sooo 2011 right now."

"I'm sure that's not true..."

"Um, it is, too! We ditched all of our moral values already back in 2010. Why not f*** up the Starpoint system, as well? That's the only thing we haven't changed."

"She's got a point, you know."

And it's obvious that I was making Stardoll out to be this greedy, power-hungry, moral-value-ditching monster-machine, but in all seriousness, I can see them slowly slipping down the hill. What did they think our reaction would be? Ooh! Shiny! This user has so many trophies, ergo they must be cooler, richer, and more popular than me! As a wise and well-learned user once commented, there's a reason why the "How do I delete my Stardoll account?" is on the list of Most Asked Questions under the Help category.

This has gotten to the point where it's not even a laughable topic anymore. I'm not the only one who's noticed the vast amount of clubs being created to retaliate against Stardoll's newer image. So, what do you think? Has Stardoll ditched it's old image? Are their "new campaigns" trying to draw in the wrong crowd of people?

Too Old for Stardoll?

How old is too old? How young is too young? Is it for boys? or just for girls? When do you know that something just isn't for you anymore?

Many Stardoll users have been asking these questions lately, specifically the one about being "too old" for Stardoll. Many of us, myself included, are probably in our teenage years. We are starting to slowly get to that point where sometimes, we can't press the "Login" button every day without fail. Reassurances like "real life comes first", or "aren't you getting tired of Stardoll, anyway?" always seem to be the iceberg-tippers, the thought-provokers. In some cases, they are the ones that finalize the decision.

So, how old is too old? The real question is, when is it time to call it quits from Stardoll...for good? I've seen lots of cases where users say they're leaving "forever", pack up their things, lock up their Suites, and huff and puff and storm out in a dramatic ceremony. And then, a day or two later, they'll realize how hasty their decision was, and make reassurances to all their friends that they are only "checking up" on their account. This obviously escalades into a "few-days-a-week" login, and soon, they are sucked back into the vortex.

I always get fed up with these kinds of people. If you're going to leave, say goodbye already and go! Don't linger around and pretend you hate Stardoll and still go on every now and then! If you're going to make a clean break, make it clean and precise. It irks me to no end when users simply disappear off the face of the earth and come back as if nothing ever happened.

But in answer to the earlier question I posed, I believe there is only a personal limit. If you feel like you are getting too old for Stardoll, then you are. Stardoll has lots of elements that make it a site for girls (and even boys) of all ages to promote online fashion careers, make new friends, etc. And that's where some of the arguments kick in. Is Stardoll really for boys, too? My answer to that would be a definite yes. I think our generation in particular has shown that, as well. Fashion tycoons like Karl Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein, and Christian Louboutin have proved it! There is no gender split for fashion. It's unisex, it's something that can be enjoyed by everyone of all ages, just like art.

What do you think? Do you think there is a general age for being too old for Stardoll? Or how about a gender limit for Stardoll? Are there limits at all? Should there be?