Social Media Sites for Kids

By now, your elementary school child will probably have heard of at least YouTube and Facebook. Most children will be curious enough to sign up for an account, lying about their age in order to get past the The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that prevents websites from collecting information from children under 13 without parental consent. However, the law exists for a reason: the Internet can be a dangerous place for young children. But despite these warnings, kids nowadays will want to sign up for accounts and stay in the loop of the latest trends.

But the Internet does not have to be dangerous. There are a couple of social networking working sites that your child can start using safely. Below are a few of the most popular.

What's What allows only kids between the ages of 8 and 14 to sign up. This was the first social networking site for kids that I came across, and I have to say that I would highly recommend it. The site can always be accessed with a secure connection. To sign up, children must get their parents' consent. Parents can edit their children's profiles, and can delete the profiles at any time. To sign up, parents have to give the site their credit card information to confirm their identity. In addition, parents have to upload three pictures of their children. The site tries its best to keep the network kid-only, and kid-friendly by requiring a webcam shot of the user each time you're logging in, and the site is constantly being monitored. When the administrators find that an adult profile (based on pictures), they immediately block the user. Children can only befriend other children in the same grade. Otherwise, they will need parental consent. In addition to friending other children, users can browse other people's profiles, send messages, and create and join groups. Click here to sign up.

Togetherville is the second social networking site that I came across, and it's pretty kid-friendly for children under the age of 10. To sign up, parents log into their own Facebook account. Then, they add relatives and family friends from the Facebook account for their children to befriend. Parents can search for classmates at the children's school, and can invite their children's friends to join Togetherville. Users can browse other profiles. However, links to other pages are not allowed (for greater Internet safety), ads are disabled, all friendships must be approved by parents (to prevent children from meeting suspicious users), and private conversations are not allowed (to also prevent any red flags). Pre-set comments are encouraged, but users have the option of writing their own comments if they agree that it is not hurtful or embarrassing. Parents play a more active part in Togetherville than in What's What by posting on their children's walls, and giving virtual allowances and gifts. When logged into Togetherville, children can watch approved Youtube videos, make comments, "like" content, and play games with other uers. Sign up, click here (which will require you to log into Facebook first).

giantHello is a great place for children between the ages of 7 and 13 to play social games, and to use Facebook-like features. Users can customize their own profiles, friend others, upload photos and videos (which must be approved first), send messages to others, update their status, instant message other users, earn virtual badges, leave comments on walls, join groups, and join fan pages (usually for celebrities). giantHello also has share buttons so users can share content and websites that they have found, and like Facebook and Tumblr, users can click the "like" button. Parents can sign their children up by paying 1 cent on a credit card, or by submitting the last 4 digits of their social security number. In order to prevent children from friending strangers, giantHello allows users to friend others by requiring them must invite friends through email or printing out an invite to give to their friends. Click here to sign up.

Skid-e-kids is a place for kids between the ages of 7 and 14 to interact. However, be aware that there are ads on the network. Skid-e-kids emphasizes its "educational quality" by allowing kids to write stories and articles (which must be approved first), and by encouraging kids to post homework questions if they need help with any subject. Users can invite friends and classmates to join and "friend," trade, buy or sell video games and toys, and watch age-appropriate movies. Comments can be flagged, which will then require moderators to check. Photos must be approved, groups are moderated, and stories and articles submitted by users must be edited for inappropriate language and content, and personal information. In addition, users can send messages, upload videos (which must be approved first), and play games with other users. Parents can monitor their children's activities and view their children's friends with Skid-e-kids tracking feature. In addition, parents can create a profile as well.

Yoursphere may not be as safe as the above social networks, and is recommended for pre-teens and kids in their early teens. However, it offers membership for users up to the age of 17. Users can style their own avatars, share interests by joining "spheres," play games like Bejeweled with other users, chat and share content with their friends, and earn prizes.

imbee is another social networking site for kids between the ages of 8 and 14. However, imbee allows users to befriend people they do not know - including in different countries. Users can join fanzones for celebrities, artists, and athletes, create and share music playlists, upload photos and videos, play games, connect with friends, comment on shout walls, meet friends, write blogs, chat, and read pop culture news. To sign their children up, parents (or teachers) must provide credit card information to verify their identity. In order to befriend someone, users must know the exact username of the person they are trying to friend. Profiles can only be viewed by friends. Parents can also specify security settings in order to customize their children's experiences. To sign up, click here.