Zwinky is a website that allows users, primarily youngsters, to create online avatars for use on other sites. The avatars themselves, which are caused Zwinkies, are fully customizable and allow the user to choose a face, hair style, skin color, clothing, shoes, and accessories. Their Zwinky is then usable across the web – AOL, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and MySpace where the product is highly promoted.

The average visitor to Zwinky is girl (64%) between the age of 12 and 17 (43%). An unusually high proportion of Zwinky users are of African American (17%) or Hispanic (12%) descent, and more than half have no college education. Zwinky receives 2.1 million visitors monthly, although visits spiked during the months of November and December of 2008.

When creating an avatar on Zwinky, a toolbar application – MyWeb Searchbar – is downloaded to the user’s computer. This toolbar, although helpful, is known to incorporate what some people consider to be adware or spyware. Many virus protection programs recognize MyWeb Searchbar as a virus and will ask that it be removed.