I am a longtime social media user and advocate – I've built my business on it for the most part. And, we're a techie family.. matter of fact, we made the move this year to all laptops and we each have one. The girls have grown up with access to computers and have watched, sometimes with awe and envy as I flip from one site to the next engaging with friends and family.
I'll admit it… I "broke" the rules and actually let each of them on Facebook so they could play the games which is really all they wanted to do. It was frustrating to me that there was nothing out there that could give the kids the similar feel that Facebook had. They grew tired of Webkinz after a year or so (and it lacked that peer to peer aspect, really) and others just didn't have it.
So… it was with cautious optimism that I decided to check out Togetherville (www.togetherville.com). After a bit of a rocky start (didn't get the email
verification after requesting it twice..work around is to connect with Parent's Facebook), I had the girls up and running very quickly and with little information requested. Uploaded a picture, sent them a sweet "Mommy's proud of you" message and they were off.
Haven't had a ton of time to poke around (and it's only the three of us on there so far ), but at this point, I believe it will keep their attention as long if not longer than some of the other sites they've used. I like the drop down message options.. there doesn't appear to be a write in option which will help any anxious parents who may be concerned about unpleasant messages being exchanged.
All in all, I have to say the folks at Togetherville have done a great job! It takes a lot to "impress" me these days in the world of social media but so far, this one is "kid tested, mom approved".
