Kid’s Social Media

Togetherville

Use Cases

Kids » They want to emulate older experience as part of Identity formation. » They want to engage online with their communities and network with their

peers.Share photos and video, comment, invite friends, play games, create art

Parents » Share emerging experiences with children , educate and guide kids » Provide safe entertainment and learning environment for their kids» To interact with their children and share new experiencesSet up communities and accounts, monitor kids, engage with kids

Teachers» Provide enhanced learning experiences» Encourage kids to engage and collaborate in social environmentsCreate lessons, engage in discussions and activities, monitor and report

Statistics

80% of minors use social media in US.27% of kids 9-17 are online producers, maintaining blogs, pages and uploading multimedia and articles at least 3 times a week. 48% promote new sites and features to their friends37% recommend products and keep up with the latest brands-Grunwald Associates survey, March 2011

“The Internet to us is not something external to reality but a part of it: an invisible yet constantly present layer intertwined with the physical environment.”Theatlantic.com, ‘We, the Web Kids’

Safety

Cyberbullying:88% of teens have witnessed cruelty to another person on a social networking site and 1 million children were subjected to cyberbullying including threats of violence on Facebook this past year.Pew Research Center/FOSI, 2011 & Consumer Reports, June 2011

ExploitationOver 3,500 reports of child sexual exploitation per week are logged with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.NCMEC, 2011

87% of parents have talked with their child about what he or she does on the internet and 93% have talked to their teen.Consumer Reports, June 2011 38% of Facebook users in the last year were

under the age of 13 and 25% were under age 10. Consumer Reports, June 2011

COPPA

FTC Enforcement» Recently a developer and marketer of mobile Apps that listing their game in the games-kids

section of the Apple App Store were fined $50,000 on an FTC case settlement. They had failed to comply with COPPA's requirements to post a Privacy Policy notice and obtaining prior, verifiable consent from parents. Federal Trade Commission, August 2011

Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 1998http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm

» Requires online services that collect data from, U-13's to:

˃ post a Privacy Policy that provides clear notice of information collection practices

˃ provide notice to, and verifiable consent from parents prior to collection of personal information from U-13s.

togetherville

History:» It was created by Mandeep Singh Dhillon and launched in May 2010» It was purchased by Disney Interactive in February 2011. » It is being discontinued this Sunday, March 11.

Walled Garden Social Network

» Togetherville provides a secure, private, neighborhood for kids consisting of their parents, trusted adults and friends all invited by parents.

» Members use real identities, not user names or avatars. All members are already in the child’s lives.

» A parent must be a Facebook member to join, and linked members are selected from their parent’s Facebook network.

Benefits

Benefits:

» A responsible , visible , first step for youth into social media. » A fully curated environment that teaches kids appropriate communication skills for

online social environments.» Secure, exclusive access to trusted, invited adults. » Parents have full access to monitor their children’s activity,» All friends linked to the child have been selected and/or screened by the parent» Builds trust and online communication relationships between parents and their

children

Drawbacks

» Over-reliance on users with access to strong, extended networks» Parents must have a facebook account to join» Barriers to grow online networks organically

Set-up

Create Account» Parents create the togetherville account for

their child by granting togetherville access their Facebook account as an application. They then selectively add their child and trusted adults.

Add Friends» Kids can add friends only though using a

Secret Friending Code. Each child has an assigned code that they can share with their friends. This will add the friend initially, but the parent will have to give their permission before the friend’s access is approved.

Privacy

» Togetherville takes privacy very seriously and complies fully with COPPA. Before completing the registration, the parent is asked to fax in a consent form to collect information on their child or verify their identity through a small charge to their credit card.

My World

There are two primary areas to explore in togetherville, My World and My Neighborhood. In My World you will be able to access videos, games, art projects and stories that are pre-selected by the togetherville staff.

Games

When you access games you can play, compare scores with other members, read their comments, like or share the game within your friends and family circle. There are no multiplayer games

Video

Videos are pre-selected for interest to kids and what would be acceptable to supervising adults. Kids can choose freely between the listed videos. Basic background on the video is given and kids can again share, like and give comments. Many of the videos are music.

Art

Tools are provided for kids to create original art that they can save, like and share. There are several different art experiences to choose from.

Have a Say

You can also rate items in togetherville and view comparisons and ratings of the entire community or just your neighborhood

My Neighborhood

In My Neighborhood, kids can create a status and comment on their activity and the activities of linked members. They can also see alerts and access their allowance and gifts.

Quips

Kids can communicate their status through pre-written messages called quips. They can custom write quips and submit for approval. Also, kids can comment directly with Me-text that is filtered through a white list filter before display. Me-text is also moderated.

T-Bills

» There are no ads on togetherville and no subscriptions but the site is monetized through parents purchase of in world currency called T-Bills.

» Parents can buy T-bills for their children which they in turn can use to buy premium items and games in togetherville.

» Kids can also win a small amount of T-bills through activities on the site like winning a game challenged against a friend.

» Parents can hold back allowances as in the real world, for any reason.

Gifts

Parents and other members can also give gifts that will appear in the child’s My Neighborhood area when they log in. Children can then send back hearts and comment.

Other Networks

» 1. ScuttlePad (2010) Age 7+» Social network with training wheels is safe but limited.» 2. WhatsWhat.me (2011) Age7+» Tween social network with top-notch safety features.» 3. Yoursphere (2009) Age 9+» Kid-only social network promises to block dangerous adults.» 4. Franktown Rocks (2009) Age 10+» Music and social networking combine in safe, cool hangout.» 5. GiantHello (2010) Age 10+» Facebook-lite gets a lot right, but watch out for games.» 6. GirlSense (2009) Age 10+» Safe, creative community for tween fashionistas.» 7. Sweety High (2010) Age 11+» Fun, closed social network for girls is strong on privacy.» 8. Imbee (2011) Age 10+» Safer social networking if parents stay involved.

Resources

» ‘We, the Web Kids’ articlehttp://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/02/we-the-web-kids/253382/

» ‘Digital Nation’ documentaryhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/

» ‘Stop Bullying’ websitehttp://stopbullying.gov/

» Togetherville Privacy Policyhttp://togetherville.com/privacy