Club Penguin and Tween Social Sites
A couple of months ago I talked to you about my introduction to the Webkinz phenomenon. Only at the time I didn’t really realize how huge of a deal it is. Six new Webkinz’s in the family later, and I’m learning more and more about Internet sites devoted to online communities for kids, or more accurately “Tweens”.
Now I’m reading about this site called “Club Penguin” in an article I found in my Inbox from Great Schools.
The article talks about some of the popular sites and the safety concerns of your kids being active on the sites and involved with others on the site as well.
Tween sites are clearly a booming business. Disney recently paid Club Penguin’s founders $350 million to purchase the site. The founders will continue to manage the site, and if they meet aggressive growth targets over the next few years, they will receive $350 million more, according to news reports. The Club Penguin Web site states that there are more than 4 million active penguins. Another virtual world, Nicktropolis, also claims over 4 million users, with thousands more signing up each day.
As I stated, our family has been very happy with our kids involvement with Webkinz, but I’m not sure they’re ready for these other websites. Do you let your kids get involved on one of the sites below? What do you think?
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POSTED IN: Freebies, Kids & Family, Social Networking, Toys & Games
12 opinions for Club Penguin and Tween Social Sites
Janetta Garton
Aug 18, 2007 at 6:11 am
My daughter has 3 Webkinz, definitely one of her favorite social sites. She is a member of Club Penguin and doesn’t spend as much time there. She also has an imbee account, but basically uses it just for an email address. I like this choice for email for my 10 year old because I can choose monitoring options such as receiving copies of all her sent emails. She often calls a friend on speaker phone and they meet up online to “play together.”
Christine
Aug 18, 2007 at 10:57 pm
My 9 year old has Club Penguin and Webkinz. She loves them both. We picked Zilladog.com for her email because it has a home page with links to Club Penguin and Webkinz as well as several other child friendly sites. I didn’t like the chat room option and blogs in Imbee so we have stayed away from there for now.
Barbara
Aug 19, 2007 at 10:06 am
I totally agree - I have similar thoughts on my blog too. These social sites for tweens are just exploding, and many of them are engaged in various marketing strategies - some blatent, some much more subtle.
Follow this link for more -
http://www.webkinzmom.com/webkinz-parent-world/top-ten-social-networking-websites-for-children/
Johnathan
Aug 21, 2007 at 11:31 am
Yeah, Thes tween sites are exploding. Did you see this new site that has popped up: http://clubtuki.com. Kids play educational games. They receive Moola(similar to money) and can bid on real stuff with their moola- such as an Ipod or Xbox 360. It is really cool.
jenna
Dec 22, 2007 at 10:33 am
I suggest webkinz. It’s an awesome site for ages around 4 & up.Buy your webkinz at your local mall or a hallmark.
theron
Dec 28, 2007 at 7:36 pm
wonderful site geared toward girls. collectible cards from target, age 6 and up.
theron
Dec 28, 2007 at 7:37 pm
oops, forgot…www.bellasara.com
Tia
Jan 2, 2008 at 11:21 am
Kidzworld.com is for tweens 9-13. It is like a kid myspace. It has games,chat, and lots more.
Hannah
Apr 8, 2008 at 2:06 pm
My yougest daughter loves the website http://www.amaericangirl.com. She loves to watch viedeos and play games and order even magazines in her school theres magizens a couple. She saw them and loved them i think girls are about the ages 8 and up will love this website.
Christian
May 12, 2008 at 3:03 pm
My son loves Club Penguin. On Club Penguin there are two types of chats. Normal Chat that allows them to chat by typing. Its seriously moderated. My son got banned because he tried to typed Bass but left the B out. There is also Ultimate Safe Chat. This only allows kids to chat with certain phrases in a chat list. They also can only see other Ultimate Safe Chat messages. It is really safe I like my son to have it a lot. His friends and him meet on there every day.
Tia
Jul 28, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Its is so fun.You can even play in the world.
Dont Forget to add me: CHANTE850
Chris
Aug 14, 2008 at 8:17 pm
There’s also shoplikeanna.com, safe site mostly about fashion and social for tween girls.
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