In an effort to keep children off of popular social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, Togetherville is stepping up to the plate to provide a safe area for kids to network. The new site allows children to play games and network in a “neighborhood” environment and teaches them how to use the technology to communicate safely online. Parents will build and monitor their child’s network, and other family members on Facebook are encouraged to interact with their younger family members online.
Togetherville is currently free, and they have a controlled environment where kids will interact with people they know in real life. What’s interesting is you can only sign your child up for Togetherville if you have a Facebook account. This partnership serves as a safeguard for the child site.
According to Togetherville’s site, applications are kid-size and ad free, “In Togetherville, kids can design logos, cards and collages to display on their profile or share with friends and family.” Kids can also watch videos. Togetherville’s site says, “All video content is pre-screened to be safe and age-appropriate.” Another fun feature is the drop down text messages called “quips.” This feature allows children to express thoughts and feelings and allows other kids to comment on the quips.
NetSmartz
