As more social networking sites arrive on the scene, I am amazed at the creativity from both the developer and user end. Communities are what made the Internet what it is today and with Voki, the community aspect has been taken to a whole new level. Want to create an animated version of yourself, including your own voice and battle it out with others on the playground? Then Voki might be for you.

What IS Voki?

At first glance, I assumed the word, Voki, was a Japanese term relating to animation, or an avatar, but upon reading the “About Voki” page, I realized I was incorrect. According to the site, “Voki is a combination of “vox”, which is Latin for voice, and “Loki”, which, is a prankster character in Norse Mythology.” When creating a Voki, you can be whomever you want-yourself, your alter-ego, or a character you choose at random. Adding your voice is the only give-away of the character and playing against others on “playgrounds” adds the prankster aspect to the site. Created by the people at OddCast, Voki can be sent to friends via email, embedded on a blog, or other social networking sites and plans are in development for integration with several Instant Message platforms as well as mobile phones.

Creating The Mini You

In order to create a Voki you have to register using an email address. Then it’s on to creating the mini you, or whomever you choose. Below are the steps I took in order to create my Voki:

• Choose the background: The landscapes vary from city, travel and animated.
• Choose the player: One would think the player is the character, but it’s actually the theme. This goes along with the alter-ego you want-from geek to festive.
• Customizing the character: Different faces, animals, (yes you can choose to be an animal), or a random Voki. This includes picking the clothes, makeup, bling (jewelry and glasses), hair and skin tone.
• The last step is adding a voice. You have the option of providing a phone number and the service calling you, recording your voice on a microphone, or a pre-recorded voice.

Once the above steps are completed, save your Voki and you’re ready to embed into your blog, or battle others in playgrounds. Although it was a little fun creating my Voki, I see this being used more by teens and pre-teens. Maybe if I had a microphone and could get involved in one of the battles to be judged it might be a little more of a challenge.

Editor’s Voki, {press the play button}:

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