Peewee Social Networking

Nielsen Online recently published a list of the nation’s most popular social networking sites and blogs. Not surprisingly, Facebook grew by 125% over the last year to become ranked second (behind MySpace). Classmates.com is not yet on the top list of competitors, but it’s on the verge of a major public offering, hoping to raise $144 million and touting itself as one of the few social networking sites that is actually profitable.

But the biggest winner may be a little surprising. Club Penguin grew by 157% to become the 9th largest social networking site.

Most people with kids know Club Penguin - it’s a site aimed at preteens, where players earn “money” by doing activities and then “purchase” things like houses and clothing. Disney bought Club Penguin in August of this year for a whopping $350 million.

In addition to the sizeable subcription fees that Club Penguin pulls in (more than 12 million registered users, many who choose to subscribe at $60 per year), Disney now has the most significant access to the generation that is growing up with MySpace and Facebook. Today’s pre-teens won’t consider social networking to be “new communications technologies” - rather this style of engagement will be as routine as home computers and cell phones. Disney is so confident in its profit potential that the company has already publicly discussed investing an additional $350 million in the site’s promotion.

In response to concerns raised by parents about the promotion of consumerism on these sites, Club Penguin spokesperson Karen Mason called criticism “ridiculous” and said “What we’re doing is teaching children to make smart choices they are going to need to make in the real world.”

Disney touts the fact the site is free from advertising - but it does sell products that bring the virtual world to life. And kids will now see the Disney logo while they are waddling through their private penguin club - in fact the web name is formally changing to “Disney’s Club Penguin”.

Disney’s not stopping at social networking for children. Its on the verge of launching “d-mail (a branded email service for kids) and “d-phone”, an instant messaging product. Disney hopes to use “d-phone” to boost its online newsletter “daily blast”. Disney’s goal is to be the largest internet subscription service in the world by the end of the year.

It’s old news that kids are big business, and that every day we teach them how to consume like adults. Every school morning you can find my son and a cluster of other 10-year olds at a small café next door to their school, sipping “baby Chino’s”, which looks a lot like delicate cups of coffee but which actually is steamed milk and sugar. It’s a pretty safe bet these kids will graduate to real coffee by adulthood.

I wish Mason hadn’t called parent’s concerns “ridiculous”. Nevertheless, her claim that Club Penguin is “teaching kids to make smart choices that they are going to need to make in the real world” is a compelling quote. I don’t know how decorating an igloo with penguin money is teaching my child anything worthwhile. But for those who are in the business of advocating for kids, whether that be their health or their education or their safety or their opportunities, we need to find a way to keep up with new technologies. If Disney can use cell phones and computers to teach kids about smart choices, then so can we.