Bradenton Herald: Are you concerned that your wanna-be-cool-too preteen might be following their older siblings onto social-networking Web sites such as MySpace.com and Facebook.com?
Thankfully, there are several sites that a 9-year-old can explore without alarming their parents, including Whyville.net, ClubPenguin.com and even National Geographic, which has a My Page for kids.
Now the world’s biggest kid brand, Disney, is jumping into the social-networking trend with a splashy, fun and character-laden Web site that Disney pledges will be safe for children. The launch date has not been released but expect it before January ends.
While I’m a little uncomfortable with the obvious emphasis on Disney-branded characters, from Hannah Montana to Captain Jack Sparrow and the engaging new world of Pixie Hollow for Tinkerbell and her fairy friends, I bet that your kid will have a blast playing here.
Taking the lead from other social-networking sites, Disney will let your little girl create her own fairy, give it a personality and share that character with her friends. If you have a son, let him play a game with Lightning McQueen and then brag to his buddies via chat about his high score.
“We wanted to break new ground,” said Paul Yanover, executive vice president for Disney Online, during a private screening last week at the International Consumer Electronics Show here. “We want to immerse people in the characters, stories and experiences that are Disney.”
Disney to offer kids’ social site [Bradenton Herald]
Social Networking for Kids
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The best new site for tweens I have found is Iklickz.com it has all of the functions of Facebook, Youtube and Myspace with safe guards for the younger set.
Great site. its about time someone did something like this with kids in mind. Keep up the good work!
I recently started researching kid friendly sites for my 11 year old and have found a comments about iklickz. How do you navigate to the site? Has the web address changed? I can’t seem to find it.
Have a look at this great site for young kids:
gv-school.com
The best site that I have seen online that is allows Kids and Teens to experience safe Social Networking is called http://www.kidswirl.com – Functions exactly like Facebook but safe for kids!
Predators have a large influence on where I let my kids go on the internet. I feel facebook and myspace are gaining old users do to predatory use. I only let my kids go to young social site such as http://www.goofbucket.com. They delete bad account and unwanted activity. The predators most often do not go to the younger sites as they have higher risk of being found out. Just my opinion I could be wrong.