Giving Your Kids the Freedom to Share Pictures Online

by Lori Cunningham (@wellconnectdmom)

I’m sure you’ve heard the debates about whether or not Facebook should allow kids ages 13 and under to use Facebook.  Although there are already millions of underaged kids registered on Facebook, it brings inherent dangers to your child, opening up the possibility of strangers contacting your child in the guise of a “friend,” or a “friend of a friend.”  And with the proliferation of fun-filled games and anyone becoming your “neighbor” as in the case of the wildly popular game Farmville, the lines begin to blur as to who really is a friend and who isn’t.

Kazaana.com is a new tweens site, just introduced a couple of months ago, that can bring you peace of mind, while giving your child the freedom to create their own online world and share it with friends.  I signed my daughter up to see just how safe Kazaana.com is.  Kazaana.com is a fully controlled environment where parents must approve your child to join the community (verified by your e-mail address and a 1 cent charge via credit card) and any friends or family a child wants to add.   To invite a friend, kids can first search the Find Friends area:

Interestingly enough, to add friends, you really need to know your friends name.  Kids will not see an open directory of names, this is part of what makes this site so safe.  Your child has the option of sending an e-mail to a friend or family member if their name doesn’t appear in the Find New Friends box.  Your child can also receive friends requests but cannot accept the request until a parent approves it first.

When your child invites a friend to Kazaana.com, this is the e-mail invite they will receive.  They in turn will need to request permission from their parents to use Kazaana.com.  Once a child has been approved, s/he will be able to

• Invite friends and family to join them
• Message friends and video chat if both kids have a video cam
• Share photos & videos on their wall & in their portfolio
• Comment on their friend’s content and digital portfolios
• Email their friends

Kazaana.com was built with the child in mind and allows each child to select from a number of pre-selected options to colorize and personalize their personal “living space” on Kazaana.com.  Here are two of the possible options:

In addition to personalizing their online space, they can also personalize their 3D avatar.  Above you can see my daughter’s avatar in a Halloween inspired outfit.

Every time your child your child logs in s/he receives tips on how to do something.  This is a very helpful features and helps kids better explore the options Kazaana.com has to offer.

Sharing Pictures Online

This is one of the best features of Kazaana.com.  Your kids can share pictures from their latest soccer game, birthday party, Summer fun activities, vacation, even scanned in artwork to share with their family and friends.  Because only parent approved friends/family can see them, you can feel comfortable in allowing your child to share their fave photos.  Kids can have the fun that we adults have on Facebook, on Kazaana.com in sharing pics, posting their thoughts in the Chatterbox, and even video chatting with their friends or family in a secure environment.

Above you can see my daughter’s portfolio of different albums created.  She has a Friends, Summer Fun, and  My birthday party albums that she is sharing.  She can also choose a Featured picture to highlight and write about.  Friends can also “Like” her picture.

                    

In my daughter’s Summer Fun album she can see all the pictures in thumbprints or see larger pictures in a slide show my manually pressing the forward and back buttons.  Any of her friends can see the photos…and any videos she uploads…too.  Kazaana.com gives kids the autonomy and independence to share their photos and videos securely while allowing them to express themselves and their lives to their family and friends.

Kazaana.com is a perfect way to give kids a creative outlet to post pictures from school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas while educating them to uploading, e-mail, and sharing their lives socially.

Games

All kids love games.  So Kazaana.com has created a Games area where kids can play and challenge their wits with 25 fun-filled games to try out.  Kids can play for hours and will love the variety of games to play.  All of these games, as far as I can tell, are single player games.  So kids do not have the option to play the games with their other friends online on Kazaana.com.

                  

*OK, Kazaana.com is not 100% free, it will cost you $0.01 to validate parental consent by charging the penny to your credit card.  They will not store any of the info. once the transaction is complete.

Disclosure:  Kazaana.com sponsored the WellConnectedMom.com by covering many of the expenses to travel to New York to attend BlogHer’12.  We have been their ambassador for the past 4 months.  Nonetheless, all expressed opinions are my own.