networking your kids

About two weeks ago I had to baby sit my two younger cousins who are both still in primary school. Like most kids their age they spent their leisure time watching TV and mucking about on the internet. On the internet the boys played mindless flash animated games and then googled just about everyone they knew. It got me thinking about how I spend my leisure time on the internet, I spend it on Facebook, gmail chat and googling potential love interests and ex boyfriends.

So besides being a stalker I spend my time wanting to interact with other people on the internet. So why should my kid cousins not want to do the same? Devon who is 12 had heard about Facebook but didn’t know exactly what it was. When I showed him I could see that he was soon interested but not exactly too thrilled because there weren’t any games.

So this got me thinking to kids’ social networking and virtual community sites. Surely there has to be sites that are dedicated to it. So I googled around and found Imbee. The site is like Myspace and Facebook rolled into one but only kids between the ages of 8 and 14. It works the same as the two sites, you add friends, create an avatar, join groups, blog, message people, listen to music etc. Like Myspace kids can even add celebrities to their list of friends.

Imbee, created by Industrious Kid, has taken precautions so that kids can network in a safe environment. Unlike other social networking sites Imbee is not free, this means that parents have to take out their credit cards in order for their kids to join after a free trial period. Parents also have access to a control panel so they can monitor and restrict their kids to whatever they want or deem safe. This way parents can have a big brother eye on what their precious darlings are doing. This way Imbee is protecting the site from becoming the Pick ‘n Pay for paedophiles.

So far over 25 000 active members use the site, so clearly kids think its cool and parents think it’s safe.

To read more check out these articles:
Imbee Launches MySpace for Kids
Imbee - Disney Is Investor

Getting paid to blog

Over the holidays I spent two weeks interning at ITWeb in Johannesburg. On the first day I arrived I sat down at my desk, logged on to my computer and clicked straight away to Facebook. To my shock and horror ITWeb, like most other companies, had the site blocked. The whole office heard me wail out loud. So, just as I thought I would have to go cold turkey for two weeks, a kind ITWeb journo offered me an alternative. She introduced me to the site My Digital Life which she and all the other journos thought was the new crack.

My Digital Life is a social networking site that pays you to blog. My Digital Life works like any other social networking site, you sign up, create a profile and add friends to your list of contacts. Then all you have to do is start blogging away. Once you’ve posted a certain number of blog posts you attain author status. The My Digital Life community decides whether or not you worthy of earning some cash. Each time someone clicks on your blog you earn 10c and the cash becomes redeemable in blocks of R50. This is great news for struggling students to earn a bit of drinking money.

My Digital Life is not a bad idea for up and coming journalists. For those of us stuck in small towns like Grahamstown we have less access to getting our stories published than those who are in the cities. My Digital Life at least allows us to get our stuff out there. And because it’s a social network a like minded community can judge whether you write like, and excuse my language, shit or not. So instead of just putting up your thoughts, stories or whatever on a random blog that might never see any traffic (like this one) publishing on My Digital Life allows for feedback. And at least you know you’re bound to get some traffic as Amatomu lists (as of the 25 July 2007) My Digital Life as the 15th most popular blog site in South Africa.