Molouk Y. Ba-Isa Saudi Gazette Hello Kitty is here with us today to celebrate becoming a digital star. Her devoted fans around the world have clicked the “like” button 10 million times on her Facebook page. Hello Kitty did not have to ask her fans to “like” her — they just did. Hello Kitty launched her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/hellokitty, in 2009 and more and more friends join her there every day. Now, each Hello Kitty post on Facebook gets an average of 22,900 likes, 2,400 shares and 1,342 comments. Even if you don't have a Facebook account, you can see the page. It's also nice to join in the other Hello Kitty fun online. At www.sanrio.com click on the “Play + Explore” tab at the top of the webpage and right away you can download free eGoodies including calendars, emoticons, wallpapers and paper crafts. There's also Hello Kitty's other online home at Sanriotown (www.sanriotown.com). You must register for a free account to play the online games, use the email and download backgrounds, computer themes, send e-cards and much more. You'll see in the latest news that Hello Kitty has a new Android game to play called, “Hello Kitty Cafe.” And while you're at Sanriotown don't forget to click on the “Characters” tab to learn more about Hello Kitty and all her Sanrio friends. By the way, do you know why Hello Kitty doesn't have a mouth? Yuko Yamaguchi, the current official designer of Hello Kitty answered this question when Time Magazine interviewed her: “It's so that people who look at her can project their own feelings onto her face, because she has an expressionless face. Kitty looks happy when people are happy. She looks sad when they are sad. For this psychological reason, we thought she shouldn't be tied to any emotion — and that's why she doesn't have a mouth.”
