Kid & Family-Friendly Social Media Sites, Part 1

As marketers and social media experts, but most importantly as parents, we have a vested interest in fully understanding social media and its implications for our children.  What sites are out there besides the well-knowns such as Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster—and how safe are they?  Today’s kids are getting online at very early ages.  They’re eager to learn about, explore, and socialize with the world beyond their living rooms.  And while their enthusiasm is great for learning and development, it raises many concerns for parents.  How do we make the experience fun for kids?  Are social media sites “kid-friendly” enough in terms of usability?  Though these concerns seem to vary with the age of our children, online safety is always top of mind.

In response to these needs, a growing number of kid- and family-friendly social media sites are on the rise.  We’ve stumbled upon a number of these types of sites, and below we’d like to share our findings:

TotSpot

TotSpot, described as a “social network for babies,” is a free, family- and kid-friendly site where parents can set-up an account and create profiles and web pages for each of their children; similar to Facebook in the sense that you can share photos and information about what your kids are doing by updating their “status.” You can track your child’s “firsts,” upload photos and videos, keep journals, and join groups where you can blog and comment. This site is mainly for parents to keep in touch with family and friends they already know versus a social media site for children to network. TotSpot has some great features, account set-up is easy, customization is fun, and security and privacy settings are instituted to keep information private.

Totspot.com averages 36,000 unique visitors per month.

• About TotSpot
• TotSpot FAQ

KIDO’Z

KIDO’Z is a free online community, geared towards children ages 3 to 7 years. The premise is a customizable browser and operating system for kids, which means a software download and install is needed to run. There are no ads or pop-ups. With this system, parents have total control of what sites their children are viewing. Parents set up the profiles and select the sites their children can visit. Within the community there are several social networking features including diaries, content sharing w/ “friends,” general blog, photo share, web site review blog, and email.  KIDO’Z is easy to use for parents and very kid-friendly, with its colorful screens and images — typing is not necessary. Children can just click and go.

Since KIDO’Z site launch in November 2008, it captures approximately 22,000 unique visitors per month.

• About KIDO’Z
• KIDO’Z FAQ

Glubble

Glubble is a free, family social networking site, termed as a “unique Family Timeline to share photos and events.” At Glubble you set up a family profile and a for each child profile created, your child has his or her own “Kids Page” to customize with favorite and approved web sites, family chat-ability, and photo sharing. To access the “Kids Page” feature there is a safe and quick software download and install required for the specific features of the page, particularly the parent-approved web site functionality. All information is private and only shared by you to known family and friends. As a kids social networking site, Glubble is recommended for children 5 to 12 years. Account set-up is easy, the site customization is user-friendly, and the security and privacy features are standard.

Glubble.com has been downloaded to more than 300,000 computers with more than 150,000 families registered and the average age of children users is 9.

• About Glubble
• Glubble FAQ

Whyville

Whyville is deemed a virtual world for children where they can chat, play, and have fun. The site is free and geared towards children ages 8 to 14 years. The primary focus of the site is education while having fun. There are several social media aspects including real-time chatting capability. In Whyville you can earn currency through different activities to spend in many different ways including avatar upgrades and purchasing food and services. The set-up is not for young children and somewhat intensive from the start but, once you’re up and running, Whyville will keep targeted kids entertained while enhancing their education.

Whyville.net has more than 4.2 million registered users.

• About Whyville

KidsTube

KidsTube is what it sounds like… a free, kid-oriented video upload site like YouTube, but with strict monitoring in place. Each video is monitored by KidsTube staff, “ensuring a family-friendly experience.” Parent-registration is easy. The site is not set-up for the very young given that reading and logging in is necessary. At KidsTube you can search for members, add friends, and post comments (kids 13 and older can post comments).

KidsTube’s site was established in May 2008, reaches approximately 20,000 unique visitors monthly, and houses over 2,700 videos.

• About KidsTube

KidZui

As with KIDO’Z, KidZui is a browser-based application, requiring a software download and install. The process is easy and ad-free and geared towards users ages 3 to 12 years. Account set-up is easy and requires parent approval/response. The site is very kid-friendly once a parent sets up the account. A password login is not necessary but can be set-up for families with children of different ages. KidZui has several social media aspects including “Friend” connections for sharing content, comments, and photos (there is no chatting). The site is set-up for security and children are not able to share personal information. General membership is free; however, the KidZui design is set-up so that kids will want the premium membership features and “levels” that provide customization. The premium membership cost is $4.95 a month.

Kidzui.com averages approximately 74,000 unique visitors per month.

• About KidZui
• KidZui FAQ

While these sites have a way to go to truly complete with the major players in the social networking scene, the creation, development, and enhancement of social media sites for kids is booming.

Check back next week for Kid & Family-Friendly Social Media Sites, Part 2!

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