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Get Togetherville: Social networking for kids 6-10

May 19, 2010 By Anne 6 Comments

It’s no secret to many parents of 5th- and 6th-graders that a whole lot of kids under 13 are using social network sites, where the minimum age is 13. The two main reasons, I suspect, are that 1) social networking has become pretty much a fact of life for a lot of their peers, and they don’t want to be left out, and 2) the dearth of alternatives to Facebook and MySpace. Sure, there are kids’ virtual worlds, but kids will tell you they’re not really social network sites. Enter Togetherville, a real social network site for kids 6-10. Like Facebook’s “real-name culture,” Togetherville is about socializing online with your friends and family (parents actually register with their Facebook accounts). “Anonymity, said [Togetherville CEO Mandeep] Dhillon is not allowed,” reports my ConnectSafely co-director Larry Magid at CNET. “The site encourages parents ‘to create neighborhoods of the real people in their child’s life to be around their kid as they grow up online’.” This is just logical to me, since social-media research shows that kids’ online experiences are not just reflections of but embedded into real life. Knowing who everybody you’re socializing with is creates trust and serves as a protection.

So what do kids do in Togetherville? They create profiles, play games, view and share pre-screened videos, etc., in an ad-free environment, ABC News reports. “There are even Facebook-style status updates, called ‘quips,’ with a twist: kids choose from a preselected menu of updates, which change daily.” Quips are a safe alternative to unmoderated chat, plus they can be helpful when you’re 6 or 7 and searching for the right words. The free site isn’t just social networking training wheels for kids; it helps parents too. Sure they’re Facebook users, but they may not have thought much about social networking from a parenting perspective. Togetherville is regular roll-up-your-sleeves practice in parenting in and with social media. A solution that was waiting to happen! [See also a review from the Wall Street Journal.]

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Filed Under: Social Media, social networking Tagged With: social networking, Togetherville

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Comments

  1. Jenna says

    May 31, 2014 at 6:51 am

    Most children and young people will have a positive, enjoyable experience when they access their social networking site. But it is important to supervise your child’s activity to an appropriate extent, without your child feeling you are trying to spy on them.

    Reply
  2. Erika says

    May 19, 2010 at 5:08 pm

    Thanks for this, Anne. We really appreciate all your support! :)

    Reply
  3. Christopher GandinLe says

    May 19, 2010 at 2:11 pm

    I like that Togetherville links to Facbeook, and the the parent has to have a Facebook account to create a Togetherville account. That seems smart from a content and safety point of view.

    Would this have been possible without FB’s new privacy/content distribution method?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Togetherville gives students a platform - Connect Safely says:
    April 29, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    […] Togetherville, the social network site for kids 10 and under wants them to have a voice in the big discussion about education reform (and maybe how their schools are run) – kid by kid, school by school. It just launched its School Communities program, further tying children’s social networks in Togetherville into their school networks (I say “further” because kids’ online social networks are usually mostly school friends and peers). This is “the first real platform for kids to express their thoughts on educational issues,” Togetherville says – plain good sense, I think, since students are supposed to be the beneficiaries of school! One way they can express their thoughts in a comfortable way is through Trumpets, a polling feature in Togetherville.com that asks them education-related questions, then features them on the main Trumpets page (kids’ responses are screened by Togetherville and approved by their parents before they go live). The site will also broadcast responses to the children’s own School Community in the site “so that influential adults can hear and respond to kids’ concerns,” Togetherville says. According to TechCrunch, School Communities makes it a lot easier for kids to connect with their friends at school in this social site (not just with the children of their parents’ friends in Facebook). To support the launch and members’ schools, Togetherville also just announced the “Heart Your School” sweepstakes, in which its members and their parents can enter their school to win $10,000 this fall. They can “heart” their school every day, even. The schools with the most hearts and the most individual votes will get $1,000 each. The $10k grand prize-winning school will be announced after a special drawing. [For more on this site, see "Get Togetherville: Social networking for kids 6-10."] […]

    Reply
  2. U13s on social sites: Who will get the equation right? | NetFamilyNews.org says:
    June 20, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    […] “Get Togetherville: Social networking for kids 6-10” (plus coverage of Togetherville & school and Disney’s acquisition) […]

    Reply
  3. 2 new kids’ social spaces: ToonsTunes, Scuttlepad | NetFamilyNews.org says:
    August 10, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    […] used in site communications or status updates (not phrases, as in some kids’ services such as Togetherville and TinyPlanets). So Scuttlepad not only blocks profanity, it has “white lists” of […]

    Reply

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