Virtual Playdates to Follow?
A modified Facebook for the younger set launched on Tuesday, to much fanfare. Aimed at 6-10 year olds, Togetherville was designed to help kids learn about online social networking within safe confines: kids’ accounts are created in tandem with those of their parents (who also vet children’s friend requests). Young visitors can create posts and comment on friends’ posts from pre-selected phrases; play games, make art projects, make and share videos, etc. Unlike Disney’s popular Club Penguin, kids use their real identities in Togetherville instead of avatars, ostensibly to encourage accountability, according to site creator Mandeep Singh Dhillon.
In terms of profitability, Togetherville has said it won’t charge a subscription fee or display advertising at the child level, though there are nascent plans allowing parents to give virtual allowances for virtual merchandise, leading the more cynical observer to wonder if it’s yet another venue to raise a “good consumer.” The New York Times quoted Vicky Rideout, analyst for the Kaiser Family Foundation, who dismissed it as an educational tool: “From the child’s perspective, I’m not sure what the benefit is. Believe me, kids will learn how to use technology and media when the time comes.”
Regardless of whether children need social media pre-K, financial backers alone could point to its potential: Floodgate, its primary investor, was an early investor of both Twitter and Digg.
Wall Street Journal reporter and blogger Katherine Boehret explored the different facets of the new social networking site and gave it a thumbs-up: “Togetherville will continue adding more content, but as is, it provides a social-networking environment that kids can enjoy and that parents will feel comfortable managing.”
Want more? Check out blogger takes from Wired and C/Net.
- Date: 05.20.2010
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