Gaia Online Wins Best Website User Experience at the Mashable Awards at CES

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Gaia Interactive, owner of Gaia Online, the world's most active social gaming community with more than 8 million unique young adult visitors a month, today announced that it won the 2011 Mashable Award for "Best Website User Experience." Winners were chosen by readers over a three month voting period and awarded at a gala event hosted by Mashable at the 2011 International CES conference in Las Vegas.

"Our community is the heart and soul of Gaia Online. We are incredibly honored to have been chosen by our members and peers for this distinguished award," said Mike Sego, CEO of Gaia Online. "Gaia is truly committed to providing the best possible experience to our users, which makes the award so fitting. We look forward to continuing to provide a fun, alternative world where creative souls belong."

Gaia Online offers a truly immersive social gaming platform for members, incorporating gaming mechanics and highly creative artwork in its community. Members value this unique and engaging experience, which consistently places Gaia among the top 5 social media sites for time spent online.

"The Mashable Community has really grown the Mashable Awards program over the past four years," said Pete Cashmore, founder & CEO of Mashable.  "We are grateful to our readers who made this year's program such a success."

Now in its fourth year, the Mashable Awards, formerly the Open Web Awards, recognize the year's best of tech and the web as voted by the Mashable community who cast more than 1.3 million nominations and votes in 25 categories, including "Best New Gadget," "Best Music Discovery Service" and "Must-Follow Brand," among others.

The digital influencer- and star-studded gala, held at the New York, New York hotel, was hosted by The Onion's Baratunde Thurston and featured performances from Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity and audio-visual entertainers Eclectic Method.  Major consumer electronic innovators, including Aro Ford, BlackBerry, Influxis, LG and Yahoo, signed on to support the event.

About Gaia Interactive

Founded in 2003, Gaia Interactive runs Gaia Online, the leading online hangout for teens and young adults. More than eight million visitors come to Gaia Online every month to make friends, play games, and participate in the world's most active online social gaming community. Gaia Online provides a fun, social environment that inspires individuality and creativity. With everything from art contests to discussion forums on poetry, politics, celebrities and more, to fully customizable profiles, digital characters and cars, Gaia Online is a place where teens can create their own space and express their individual style. For more information, visit www.gaiaonline.com.

SOURCE Gaia Interactive