totlol - ReadWriteWeb http://www.readwriteweb.com/feeds/tag/totlol en Copyright 2009 Richard MacManus readwriteweb@gmail.com Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:12:49 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.23-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss ReadWriteWeb's List of Kid-Friendly Online Resources kid_fox_sept09.jpgIn an ironic twist of fate, Fox's IGN Entertainment, a company known for its game reviews of products like Zombie Apocalypse just acquired What They Play. The newest member of Fox Interactive is touted as the "family guide to video games" and offers reviews, warnings and suggested products. Under the umbrella company of What They Like, What They Play uses the "Entertainment Software Rating Board" (ESRB) to warn parents of games containing explicit lyrics, cartoon violence and drug references.

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]]> In an age when gross-out sites like goatse are just a click away, a number of services offer parents the information they need to find quality online entertainment. While past generations were raised on unfiltered television and video games, today's parent take a more active role in the process of media consumption.

fox_whattheyplay_sept09.jpgAOL's PlaySavvy: PlaySavvy is another site that offers parents a chance to check out age-appropriate kids games. Similar to What They Play, this site lists the ESRB ratings next to games and information is categorized by topic and gaming system. Products for console favorites like Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii are often featured on the site. AOL also offers parents daily articles and a section to view the most popular games.

Parents' Choice: Established in 1978, this site is run by the Parents' Choice Foundation - a nonprofit organization that offers awards to the top children's media and toys. Some of the award categories include websites, video games, DVDs, software, television programming and toys. This site definitely skews towards narrative-based educational materials. If your kid has a shorter attention span, you might want to visit PBS Kids instead.

Common Sense Media: Common Sense media is a nonprofit organizations dedicated to offering parents reviews and suggestions on appropriate content. The group produces movie, website, TV, game, book and music ratings as well as a number of educational tools for classroom use. The site can be personalized for kids between the ages of 2-17 years old and it's available in English and Spanish. This site tends to weigh the benefits of mainstream media sites.

pbs_fox_sept09.jpgPBS KIDS Island: This site offers parents reading resources, videos and games in English and Spanish. While the majority of the content is best queued up by a parent or teacher, the videos are of particularly high quality and completely commercial free.

National Geographic for Kids: This site offers kid-friendly games, videos, stories and activities for nature lovers. The same photography that has made National Geographic a hit with grownups is likely to please kids. Not surprisingly, the video content is equally compelling. Discovery Kids offers a similar experience and is a great site for visual learners.

Totlol: Totlol is a parent-moderated version of YouTube. The site offers video options specifically designed for children and even offers "age optimized interfaces" to ensure that kids of different ages get the most appropriate content. In 2008, ReadWriteWeb covered Totlol's beta launch. As of today the site charges a $3 per month subscription fee or $54 until your child grows up.

Photo Credit:Swaminathan

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http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/readwritewebs_list_of_kid-friendly_online_resource.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/readwritewebs_list_of_kid-friendly_online_resource.php Filtering Services Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:32:03 -0800 Dana Oshiro
Online Video for the Very Young It's no secret that YouTube's age demographics skew young, but young still means 18-34, and much of the content on the site would be inappropriate for children under the age of 13 -- the COPPA cut off age that YouTube adheres to as the minimum allowed for anyone to sign up on the site. Totlol is a new video site that launched in beta this week aimed at children aged 6 months to 6 years. The site is community moderated to ensure that video content is always appropriate for small children.

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]]> When I first read "community moderated video site for kids under 6 years of age," my immediate reaction was, "bad idea." Community moderation, after all, isn't foolproof and before the community has time to react, often bad stuff slips through. But Totlol is set up in a way that parents are able to screen and weed out bad videos before they reach the eyes of their children.

The site is basically an additional layer of screening for YouTube. Parents scan the YouTube movie database via a special scouting tool on Totlol. When they find a video that they think is good for children under 6 years old, they tag it, add a description, and submit it to the database. The video then enters a screening queue were other parents are asked to answer whether it is appropriate for the site and for which age group the video would be most enjoyed. The screening answers are analyzed algorithmically and only videos that parents collectively deem age appropriate are added to the sites library.

Videos are then played via the YouTube API with a Totlol skin on the player. So far, Totlol users have added just over 100 videos to the site, which only allows people over the age of 18 to join -- assuring that it shields itself from child protection laws by putting parents in complete control.

Totlol is a cool idea, and the only children's video site that we know of that relies on parental screening to decide which videos to add to its database (though please let us know if there are any others in the comments). With the number of computer savvy 6-year-olds on the rise, this site will probably be a hit among both parents and toddler alike.

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http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/online_video_totlol.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/online_video_totlol.php Products Tue, 13 May 2008 08:45:00 -0800 Josh Catone