Social Networking for Kids

This was a fun activitiy. I looked at this list of social networking sites for kids:

 

It has a list of many different sites listing some features and cost if any. I check out the first three sites. The first site was Barbie Girls. Here you can create online characters and design your own room. They have games and a filtered chat. You need to be a member to use this site but it will cost you; 5.99 for a month, 17.97 for 3 months, and 35.94 for 6 months. If you buy the 3 or 6 month membership you will receive a pet purse. I was able to find this site on a google search, but there was no research.

 

The next site was Disney Club Penguin. This site will also cost you; 5.95 for a month, or you can buy a year membership for $57.95. This is a game site and sells toys. They have a filtered chat, blogs, polls, artwork, comics, and wallpaper. On the community link there were two service projects where kids exchanged some of their virtual coins for money to help two groups. One was adopt a Village and the other was Micro-Financing which supplied money to women in an impoverished country so they could start their own business. They had four rules that you had to agree to before you can become a member. Of course, swearing, inappropriate language, cheating or revealing personal information is forbidden

 

I did find a wiki page on this site. Apparently this site was created by New Horizons in 2005. They sold to Disney in 2007 for $350 million and a bonus of $350 million in 2009 if certain things are done. In 2007, it ws reported that this site had 12 million user accounts.

 

The last site I checked out was Imbee. This site is free. It has a blog, pictures, trading cards, audio, and video. They have a Groove tab for students to discuss their favorite movies, subjects in school and the like. They have a My spot tab where kids can design their own page. They have a seperate sign up for kids, parents, or teachers. Adults have to verifiy their identity. When I did a google search I found that in January 2008 the Federal Trade Commission charged this site for violating online Privacy Protection Act. They were charged a 130,000 civil penalty. www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/01/imbee.shtm.  That is scary.