Togetherville.com acquired by Disney

This week Disney acquired Togetherville, the tween social networking site that enables parents to build a social circle for their children based on their own collection of Facebook friends. The Togetherville online community was designed to protect the privacy of children under age 13. The site allows children to connect with their real-world friends in its virtual neighborhood while allowing parents to monitor what their kids are doing.

Togetherville has been described as “training wheels for social networks.” The idea behind Togetherville is to create online “neighborhoods” similar to real-life neighborhoods where children interact with each other and the adults they know.

Kids are looking for ways to express themselves and pursue their interests in an online social network that is safe. Togetherville founder, Mandeep Dhillon, identified this growing need for a safe online social network, but he did not want to make kids hide behind an avatar. Mr. Dhillon believed that open (yet monitored) online interaction would help children develop social skills that they can’t get from virtual worlds like Club Penguin.

The intent of Togetherville is to keep younger children off Facebook, where they are more likely to connect with strangers or encounter cyber-bullying. The site offers kids the videos, games and activities they seek on larger sites like YouTube or gaming sites while protecting them from inappropriate content.

The Togetherville acquisition is the latest move in Disney’s quest to dominate the market for websites targeting families with children. Their first steps to building out their online family network with social media ties began in in 2007 when they acquired Club Penguin, and continued in 2009 when they scooped up Kaboose.com. Last July Disney acquired social gaming company Playdom for $563 million. Togetherville adds a COPPA-compliant social media platform to Disney’s family-friendly online offering. With Club Penguin Disney quickly gained the trust of parents who were happy to shell out $60 a year in CP subscription fees to know their kids are “protected” from inappropriate content. Togetherville seems destined for a similar business model.

The Togetherville site just launched last May and had a lot of promise. On the horizon lies a less creative, yet more profitable future. The question remains: What price would parents be willing to pay to protect their kids from commercialism?

Girl Scouts introduce Killer Cookie App

Gone are the days of waiting until the local girl scout knocks at your door to buy some cookies. Now web-savvy girl scouts rely on social media and smartphone apps to deliver customers to their local girl scout cookie booth. Scouts and troop leaders hope that the introduction of app-vertising and social media will help them reach their cookie sales target of $700 million.

According to NPR, the new mobile app was introduced to avoid the troubles stirred up two years ago, when one scout in North Carolina got in hot water for posting a video on YouTube to sell her cookies.

The Girl Scouts of America have introduced this app strategy along with e-vites and Facebook messages to market their cookies. The scouts are required to team up with their parents to manage their social media marketing.

For decades girl scouts have learned salesmanship and responsibility through the annual cookie sales. Now there is an added layer of social media and mobile app marketing added to the lesson. In addition to sharpening their marketing skills, girl scout troop leaders also believe that this is an effective way to teach girls about social media and online safety. Girls have access to a complete online training kit to help them reach their sales goals.

Looking for Cookies?
The “Cookie Locator” app uses GPS (global positioning satellite) technology to find cookie sale locations. The mobile app provides information on the nearest cookie booths and lists the dates and times when booths are open. The app can be downloaded for free by searching for “Cookie Locator” in the iPhone App Store or Android Market Place. Blackberry users and any cell phone that can access the internet can visit the mobile site by pointing their phone’s browser to: http://mobile.littlebrownie.com/.

Everloop launches Network for Tweens

Recently we all heard about how the Obama girls are not allowed to go on Facebook. Well, Sasha and Malia may not be completely “out of the loop” if the First Lady approves of a new social network that was specifically designed with kids their age in mind.

A new site called Everloop is positioning itself as a safe, moderated social network that complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). “At Everloop, we’re recognizing that kids want to be online, and our goal is to get kids’ online time focused on connecting with a purpose,” Everloop’s website’s parents page says. The network launched last week and has partnered with i-Safe to run an Internet safety training program at 56,000 schools around the country.

Everloop calls itself a “social looping platform” and claims to keep tweens safe by maintaining a “privacy loop” around their connections. Kids can join a “loop” that relates to their interests, participate in school projects, connect with friends,  post pictures and share comments. They can also decorate their profile and add some personalization elements.

Like most COPPA-friendly sites, parents need to approve their child’s Everloop account before it is enabled. Parents also have the option of disabling certain site features, such as friend suggestions or instant messaging. Parents are always notified about new “connections” so they can stay “in the loop.”

Ultimately, kids will be the judge of whether this “parent-approved Facebook” will be cool enough to keep them interested.

Can 21 Million Fans be Wrong?

Tween pop sensation, Justin Bieber, was discovered on YouTube in 2008 by Scooter Braun. Given his predominantly tween audience, it is no surprise that he regularly promotes himself with social media. Justin has used Twitter to keep in touch with his fans in good moments and bad.

After an event was canceled at Long Island’s Roosevelt Field Mall due to an unruly crowd of fans, Justin tweeted, “the event at roosevelt mall is cancelled. please go home. the police have already arrested one person from my camp. I dont want anyone hurt.[sic]” The crowd eventually calmed down and order was restored.

Bieber’s fans call themselves “Beliebers” and they are not kidding. There are some true fanatics among the 21 million. They have been known to take to the social waves to “defend” him as was the case this week. A few serious “Beliebers” decided to hack Wikipedia after Bieber lost the Grammy for best new artist to the jazz musician Esperanza Spalding. Last night the entry for Spalding was edited to say “JUSTIN BIEBER DESERVED IT GO DIE IN A HOLE. WHO THE HECK ARE YOU ANYWAY?” along with some other choice comments.

“Never Say Never” Premiere Streamed Live on Facebook
Knowing the influence Bieber has on his tween followers, Paramount decided to promote the film heavily on social media platforms and the bet paid off. “Never Say Never” grossed $29.5 million in its first three days of release, powered by viral publicity from Facebook, the Bieb’s massive Twitter feed and several TV appearances.

Bieber’s fans soaked in every second streamed on his Facebook and Twitter coverage of the “Never Say Never” premiere. Even the mundane parts of the “Never Say Never” premiere were streamed live to eager fans gathered around computers and mobile devices. This live social-stream event made fans feel like they were at the premiere and they went to the movie theaters in droves in the days that followed.

No Facebook for the Obama Girls

Last week NBC’s Matt Lauer asked First Lady Michelle Obama whether her daughters have Facebook profiles. Mrs. Obama replied with a definitive “no.” She and the president are concerned enough about their children’s lives being under constant public scrutiny. They do not need the added stress of dealing with Facebook.

Mrs. Obama expressed views that the same rule should apply for children who don’t happen to live in the White House. “I’m not a big fan of young kids having Facebook,” Michelle Obama said. “It’s not something they need… It’s not necessary.”

Michelle Obama’s conviction may be hard for some parents (and kids) to swallow. In my view, she reinforces the obvious need for parents to take responsibility for what their children are doing online. This may mean drawing the line for kids when they lack the judgment to do so alone. Facebook does not allow kids under 13 to register for a reason. This restriction is both for safety reasons and to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

With an eye on protecting her girls, she accepts the limitations that come with being in the White House. “We’re lucky that there are a lot of real constraints like Secret Service and stuff like that.” Still she wants for 12-year-old Malia and 9-year-old Sasha to enjoy a normal childhood despite all the distractions of living in the White House.

“If you talk to our kids, they’re really very normal,” she concluded. “We recognize them…. People who come and visit, they look and go, ‘These are the little girls we’ve known.’ So we’re just going to stay vigilant.”

Friendship According to South Park

T(w)eens new to Facebook and other social media sites are quick to accept friend requests so they can keep up with their classmates. But how meaningful are the relationships they are mapping out on Facebook? Some observers argue that social media is blurring the definition of friendship.  T(w)eens are the most susceptible to these fuzzy lines around friendship.

Last year South Park tackled some heavy issues relating to social media with humor and just enough insight to make you think twice before sending out your next friend request.

Evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar, wrote in the London Times that “our brains aren’t big enough to allow us to have deeply meaningful relationships with more than a handful of people.” Dunbar added that most people couldn’t handle more than 150 friends (or acquaintances) in real life since that is “the average number of people to whom most of you send Christmas cards.”

What is a Facebook friend? Should you “friend” only those who are true friends? Are these people whom you “can have a relationship with involving trust and obligation,” where “there’s some personal history, not just names and numbers,” as Dunbar defined it?

An entire generation growing up with a broader definition of friendship will likely impact how they navigate friendship as adults. Defriending will quickly become necessary as they manage both their social media self and their real life.

Social media introduces another aspect, which is not all bad. Today, friendships need not be limited by geography. T(w)eens can easily keep in touch with any acquaintance or “friend” they made on winter vacation or at soccer camp. They can also keep in touch with friends if they move to another state. That can help t(w)eens hang on to some old friends as they get acclimated to a new school setting.

Keep your chin up Kyle. Remember the words of Aristotle: “A friend to all is a friend to none.”

Welcome to T(w)eens go Social!

Welcome to T(w)eensgosocial. The focus of this blog will be to explore how teens and tweens use social media. T(w)eens are flocking to social media platforms since many of them grew up playing in virtual worlds.

According to research from the Pew Internet Report on Teens and Social Media, teens are no longer interested in blogging. Instead nearly three-quarters of teens are creating facebook, myspace, and other social media profiles to keep in touch. Their younger counterparts, tweens, are following the same path though most social media sites prohibit kids under 13 from creating an account. So that means that tweens are lying about their age to create a Facebook or YouTube account.

In 2010 Common Sense Media conducted a survey to examine how social networks were affecting kids and families. They found that kids turn to social media sites to connect with friends, classmates, and people who share the same interests. In many cases they do this without parental permission. Once parents find out the truth it could be too late.

Researchers asked teens and parents about their views of online privacy and how their personal information is being used by websites, social networks and other online platforms.

• Parents are concerned about how much their kids are sharing.
• Families need guidance and information about online privacy.
• Parents expect companies to respect privacy and want government to enforce online privacy law.

Today’s pre-teens and adolescents are drifting away from face-to-face communication. Instead they share details of their life on social media platforms. This evolution is introducing risks that t(w)eens may not be aware of when they create their first social media profile. Many adult responsibilities come with entering this digital world. T(w)eens need to learn what it means to be a safe online, including ethical behavior, privacy and cyberbullying.

I work as a digital marketer in children’s publishing and have two tweens at home so I am familiar with the trends in social media. It is very tempting for kids to get hooked on social media sites and not think about the long-term effect of their online social presence. I want to explore the good and bad sides of this social landscape and see in which ways it impacts how kids communicate and grow into young adults.