Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Mattel has gone to great lengths to make this girl-centric world a safe place to be. Chatting is monitored and special filters in the public rooms prevent personal information from being shared. The bad part is that girls are encouraged to embrace all things Barbie from fashion/beauty (choose an avatar's hair, eyes, clothes, and accessories), consumerism (go shopping), and home décor (pick a room's bed, walls, and furniture). Many of the goodies available online to girls who earn B bucks (virtual money) and a secret chat with preapproved friends are only unlocked with the Barbie MP3 player ($60 to buy). Though no ads are shown on this site, girls can earn B bucks or special codes by purchasing (with real cash) more Barbie products.
Families can talk about if Barbie is a true representation of a girl. Do most girls look like Barbie? How does she look different from the average girl? Families can also discuss the importance -- or lack thereof -- of being trendy and always having a new outfit to show off. How do clothes make you feel? Is it important to run out and buy the new hip shirt or pair of pants?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Dana Cotter
This Mattel-operated site is your girl's one-stop-Barbie-shop where she can create her own avatar, design her own room, chat with friends, and play games. To join BARBIEGIRLS.COM, all you have to do is choose a screen name and password. Using the site is free, though many of the areas and goodies for sale using B bucks (virtual cash) are only available for girls who have a Barbie Girl MP3 ($60).
The first step is creating your avatar: hair color and style, eye color and shape, clothing, and accessories. Next stop is your room, where you pick the color of the walls, floor type, furniture, and view. (When you buy clothing, accessories, and furniture they're kept in "my closet" in this room.)
You don't have to stay cooped up in your room -- just use the site's map to visit the Furni (Barbie speak for trendy furniture) Fever store, B Park, B Chic Boutique, and more.
You can earn B bucks by watching movie trailers in the B Cinemas and collecting private codes from Barbie products, but the easiest way is to play games -- or really, activities. At "Dazzling Nails," girls choose nail color, length, stickers, and rings to give another avatar sassy manicures. "Mix a Music Video" is where girls pick backgrounds, floating icons, characters, and put them together with short music clips. At "Give Ken a Hot New Look," girls are given a chance to choose hair, clothes, car, and vibe (adventurer, funny, cool, or popular) for a new-and-improved Ken.
The site has two kinds of chat: B Chat and Secret B Chat. Anyone can participate in B Chat. Secret B Chat is a way for friends to chat in their own rooms; access you get when friends dock their Barbie Girl MP3 at each others' computers. Mattel monitors both types of chat and applies sophisticated filters to keep chatting safe and friendly. In Secret B Chat, a filter is used to block obscene or threatening language. In B Chat, Mattel uses a specialized filter that only allows already accepted words from their database. Each member can also send and receive mail from other members.
For another safe tween fashion-centric community site check out GirlSense.com.
Reviewed: 05/24/2007
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CommercialismGirls must own a Barbie Girl MP3 player ($60) in order to have access to certain things on the site such as adopting a pet and Secret B Chat. Kids can also play games to earn virtual money. There are opportunities to spend real cash on products (although you have to be 18 to do so). |
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