Kid clicks

As a father (and a bit or a worrier at times) of a two year old girl, my concerns for her are that of every other father – health, happiness, education and all the rest of it. But something that I have been thinking and talking about for a while, is how her generation is going to both use and interact with technology.

More often that not, I find myself I conversations with other parents about the importance of keeping up with technology, gaming, the web – you name it. Being a modern parent is tough… Most parents agree that it’s important to stay on top of all the above, but then there are some that don’t and seem to think that it's a ship that’ll pass in the night…cough…

New research from Nielsen Online revealing the top ten the most popular kids sites goes to show that even those of us that think we’re pretty clued-up could learn a thing or two. For example – ever heard of Stardoll.com? Well, it’s a site that was set up by a Finnish woman who wanted to teach kids how to knit dolls clothes, making its money by selling items of virtual clothing for about 50p each. Others in the top ten are more well-known, including ClubPenguin.com, Stardoll.com, Cartoonetwork.co.uk, Lego.com, Nick.com, Bebo.com, bbc.co.uk/schools, RuneScape.com, Frengo.com and FreeOnlineGames.com

MyTake – When I was a kid, my parents couldn’t keep up either. One week it was this type of trainers, this band and this football player…and the next week it’d all change. The worry is that when you add the ever-evolving tastes of kids with the fast-paced nature of the web you’ve got a hell of a job on your hands. Heck, I only just figured out that Diego is Dora’s cousin! Parents are going to have to be more aware of the likes of Nielsen in order to keep up with online tends concerning their kids.