'Mom-tested' sites for tweens

It's hard to find out much about MomLogic on the Web (couldn't easily find an About Us page), but the site put its stamp of approval on five sites for preteens: Stardoll (digital paper dolls + social networking), the Whyville virtual world, Imbee blogging, Allykatzz social networking for girls 10-15, and Yamod (a kind of YouTube for kids 14 and under). BTW, Imbee is fixing a problem the Federal Trade Commission had with the site. It has settled with the FTC, which had sued Imbee for children's privacy violations. Wired reports that Imbee asked kids to "register up front with their full name, date of birth and email address. Only after the child provided the information did Imbee send an activation email to the parents. And if the parents didn't activate, Imbee held on to the tot's data anyway."

Kids' virtual worlds hot

There's a mini boom of kids' virtual world afoot, CNET reports, probably fueled the success of Webkinz and Neopets and Disney's acquisition of ClubPenguin. One reason: "more kids are flocking to imaginative, character-driven environments. An expected 53% of children on the Web will belong to a virtual world within four years, more than doubling the current population of 8.2 million members," reports CNET citing eMarketer figures. Other worlds and services CNET mentions are WebbliWorld.com from the creators of Wallace & Gromit, GaiaOnline.com, Stardoll.com, and Nickelodeon's Nicktropolis. I would add Whyville.net as another prominent one, and possible Finland-based Habbo.com, though it probably skews slightly older. A related CNET article asks, "Are kids ready for ads in such spaces?". Since this interactive advertising goes well beyond cereal boxes and TV spots to immersive games and other forms of direct involvement for children, it's a good question to ask.

Zooming in on ClubPenguin

Grownup Michael Agger's experience as a penguin was quite different from the impressions left by Emily's "focus group" of 11-year-olds (he might've been a little more ingenuous than they - see previous post). Michael, an associate editor at Slate.com, spent enough time in ClubPenguin to observe various behavioral patterns, to understand how the safety features work, and to go a little flippy on the iceberg that penguin urban legend says might tip if enough penguins stand on one side of it.

As for behaviors, he notes: "Club Penguin may be heavily monitored, but, similar to school, messing with the authority figures is part of the fun…. Club Penguin regulars seem to enjoy their outlaw status, posting videos on YouTube of how they got the boot. Better yet are the tribute videos to banned penguins. This one uses the Puffy Combs ode to Biggie Smalls, 'I'll Be Missing You,' as a soundtrack."

Counter to Emily's observation, he suggests "it's slightly hypocritical to tell them to turn off the computer and go play kick the can. Looking around my workplace, I see a lot of adults spending their entire day flirting/working/planning on instant messaging. Welcome to the club, kids."

Here, too, is the Washington Post on Disney's acquisition of ClubPenguin.

'What kids like to do online'

Fun article at Slate.com by mom and author Emily Yoffe, who polled her 11-year-old's peer group about the question implied in the headline. Among other things, the "focus group" confirmed (qualitatively, anyway) my suspicion that one of the appeals (for the kids) of online play is that it's just kid stuff right now - Mom or Dad can't possibly know about all the sites they use and if s/he does, s/he doesn't have time to keep up with all their ins and outs. It'll be a while before we catch up with our digerati, kids know very well.

Anyway, with the group, Emily visits several tween-targeting virtual-world sites that have some things in common, including buying stuff for your avatar with virtual money. "To purchase this fake clothing and furniture [in virtual world sites] requires fake money, and to earn it, players are required to play a series of arcade-style games. What better lesson can we teach our kids: If you've just blown through your home-equity loan, you can always avoid bankruptcy by spending a couple of days in Vegas." The kids, she found, don't ask Mom or Dad to pay for the paid version of these sites because that would only "draw undue attention to [the kids' online] leisure activities." So her daughter and friends currently prefer a site by General Mills called Millberry.com.

As for avatar friends in these virtual worlds (e.g., ClubPenguin), one child "thought the befriending feature was something of a sham. First of all, these penguin friendships were too meaningless even for kids who do much of their real-life socializing online. Second of all, because she wasn't a [paying] member, Ellie was embarrassed to invite people to her barren igloo because it looked 'pathetic'." Many parents will sympathize with Emily's conclusion about the sadness of on-screen play replacing the old hands-on kind we pre-Digital Age types engaged in. But the nostalgia in this response, plus too much exposure to very negative media and political hype about online risks, may keep us from helping our kids take advantage of the benefits of the social Web for youth.

Disney's ClubPenguin now

Penguins at your house might not notice, but ClubPenguin's moving into the Disney igloo. "Disney said it would pay $350 million in cash for the website aimed at 6-to-14-year-old kids. As much as $350 million more will be added if the Canadian company's founders reach profit targets through 2009," the Los Angeles Times reports. Here's the Associated Press on this development.

Recommended kid communities

Izzy Neis has done parents a real service in publishing her list of about two dozen "Worthy Kid/Tween Communities" (emphasis on "community," she posted in our forum, ConnectSafely.org). "Community" is important because tweens and lots of kids like socializing online as much teens do, but they're too young for places like Facebook, Bebo, and MySpace. So it's good to know what the age-appropriate spots are. Underneath Izzy's list are more sites in her readers' comments (she'll check them out and add them to her list if she feels they're worthy too). She also provides another list of sites that are not for people under 14. Author, children's entertainment specialist, and blogger Izzy describes herself as "a cookie connoisseur, pop culture aficionado … and a zealot in the pro-kid movement." Meanwhile, the Associated Press recently look at the pre-tween end of the social Web in general, while the Pioneer Press zoomed in on Webkinz.

Social-networking training wheels

Remember Beanie Babies? Cabbage Patch Dolls? Well, now there’s Webkinz. The only (significant) difference is Webkinz have a social site/virtual world for their young owners – kind of a starter MySpace for people below its minimum age. “Last year, Webkinz brought in more than $45 million in retail in the U.S.,” CNET reports. The writer went through hoops to acquire her Webkinz, named Cneta, then more to register at the site, where – like all members - she started with 2,000 units of “KinzCash,” which goes fast because next she needs to decorate Cneta’s room in the site and accessorize her new virtual pet. She bought Cneta “a salmon strudel feast for Cneta, as well as a batch of her favorite food, marshmallows, rainbow-patterned boots, a blue striped bed set, a scooter and some horn-rimmed specs.” She quickly needed more KinzCash for all this self-expression, and she could earn it by playing games in the site, passing quizzes, and doing virtual jobs. Communications on the site is even more restricted than on ClubPenguin. “The only way to communicate with a Webkinz owner, it turns out, is if you already know someone with an account,” which would probably be good news to many parents of Webkinz owners. But not all parents are thrilled with the product/service – see the article for more (including photos). And here’s the big picture on kid social worlds from Business 2.0.

Barbie vs. the penguins

Even though she reigned supreme on Web 1.0, as more and more kid-oriented virtual worlds like ClubPenguin and WebKinz open on the Web, Barbie’s struggling to keep up, according to a CNET analysis. “Mattel's Barbie.com and EverythingGirl.com have the highest concentration of girls age 2 to 11 on the Web, according to researcher Nielsen NetRatings, but their overall audience hasn't grown much over the years.” It adds that Barbie.com got about 1.9 million unique visitors last month, down from 2.1 million in April 2006 (ClubPenguin attracted 4 million visitors, Webkinz 3.6 million, and Neopets 3.2 million last month). This summer Mattel’s coming out with an MP3 player “that can be accessorized like a doll and used to unlock special animations, make friends and shop in a virtual world on the Web.” Here’s an item on Sony’s rumored interest in acquiring ClubPenguin at tech news site GigaOm.com.