• by Bobbie Carlton , February 24, 2009

Kids outgrow everything from clothes to books to the Web sites they visit. One concern of many parents today is age compression or the "Growing Up Too Soon" (GUTS) syndrome. Childhood development experts decry hyper-sexualized fashions, movies, etc., while parents want to keep childhoods intact.

 

Meanwhile, kids continue to grow up. And when they do, they move on. Look at some favorite Web sites. While Webkinz and Club Penguin offer pseudo-friending features, kids today want more than just a collection of casual games. MySpace and Facebook are doing a better job of controlling access, but preteens are definitely tempted to sneak around the safeguards the sites and their parents put in place -- and they do. To parents, MySpace is the online equivalent of the belly shirt and R-rated movie. It just isn't designed, monitored or controlled the way a COPPA-compliant site for tweens should be.

Web sites for kids are often just a collection of casual games. When kids cross over from child (6-8) to preteen/tween (9-12), they are looking for more connection from their Web sites. Suddenly, it isn't enough to complete the puzzle or pop the balloons. Even though most kids say their primary activity online is casual gaming, the most successful sites must offer more depth.

There is a roiling cauldron of kids who are stuck between kid-oriented sites and grownup sites. Tired of what they see as babyish, they are not yet ready for the "Wild West" of true social networking. And they are looking for these more "grown-up" experiences younger and younger. Peers are one of the most often cited influences on a child's interests. One older sibling or more advanced child can "infect" a whole cohort. In our house, the elder sib played with Webkinz to age ten; the younger sib (age six) quickly tired of the site, and has a stated and demonstrated interest in "other things."

To engage with the latter group, marketers must first capture their attention, then their imagination, then their loyalty; all this without alienating parents who want "more" for their kids but are wary of anything that smacks of shortening the distance between childhood and the teen years. Here are some ideas:

• The casual game approach works to attract visitors but won't hold them for long. Link-building programs are often based on a new game, but you need a constant stream of new activities to keep tweens interested.

• Is the look age-appropriate? Cartoons and animation can be sophisticated or babyish. The tween radar is highly attuned to "too young" and will quickly move on if they feel their younger sib might also be attracted.

• Is the content fresh and current? Does it have ties to the next big thing or the latest craze? (In other words, when did you know that Hannah Montana was "so over" for tweens?)

• Is there real depth? Are the characters multi-dimensional? Can the site's visitors interact with them? Do they seem more like peers than toys?

• How do your visitors reap "psychic income"? Today's tween has been raised on a steady diet of social consciousness. How can they help each other or those less fortunate?

• Keep it safe without being intrusive. Be COPPA-compliant without being in their face about it. This means no Personally Identifying Information (PII), inappropriate language, topics or images while allowing tweens the freedom to explore their own creative natures. Drop down message menus might be safe but they are instantly dismissed -- "no fun."

And, if you can't deliver the tween experience on your kid site, think of those outgrowing your site as the feeder system for another site -- either yours or a partner's. It's not a loss, it's an opportunity.

Editor's note: If you'd like to contribute to this newsletter, contact Nina Lentini.