Common Sense Note
Parents need to know kids have to buy a real-life Beanie Baby to get a code to play online. The colorful site has little substance -- especially since there's little to do for younger kids who aren't reading well and won't be interested in the chat. And, there's constant pressure from Beanieland's mayor to "make friends." On the plus side: Freestyle and prescripted chat options have lots of safety features (no bad words, numbers, commonplace names, etc.).
Families can talk about chat etiquette, Internet safety, and virtual worlds. What's the best way to approach a new person online? Why would someone be mean to someone he or she never met? What can you say or do if another member (or real-life person) is mean to you? What social behaviors is a virtual world teaching? Do you think networking sites help build good relationships? Why or why not? How would you make friends offline? Families can talk about the pros and cons of computer play. How can you balance computer play with playing in the "real" world?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Dana Villamagna
The basis of BEANIE BABIES 2.0 is quite simple: Buy a plush toy and log onto the site to play around. Kids can chat with other members and play games.
Beanie Babies 2.0 doesn't hold its own among other more well-developed, buy-a-product-to-play sites. What little is here is strictly for fun, not educational purposes. There are a number of good safety features, like prescripted chats and a parent approval-only freestyle chat with a limited dictionary, but there's not enough quality content to keep kids who don't chat interested for long -- even though the site is described as a Web experience that "will unfold like a never-ending story." Also, it may be nearly impossible for most kids to withstand the social networking pressure here: Beanieland's mayor bear character's tinny voice makes plenty of reminders to kids to "make friends" and "build up your friends meter." Overall, Beanie Babies 2.0's chat, games, and simple rooms for kids to house their Beanie Babies in online just doesn't stand up to the hype. Kids would fare better just buying a regular Beanie Baby and making up their own games offline.
For better buy-play-chat options try Webkinz.com or Moshimonsters.com.
Reviewed: 03/31/2008
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LanguageInappropriate words as well as numbers and commonplace names are restricted on this site, even in the freestyle chat. That's not to say, however, that some users won't get creative and find ways around the filter. In that event, there's a "report user" icon in each freestyle chat room. |
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Social BehaviorIn an odd new twist to the term "peer pressure," the mayor bear character in Beanieland constantly asks kids if they've made any friends yet. And he repeatedly reminds how to "make friends" and where to chat. This is may be just annoying, or a deal breaker for parents of young kids who do not want their children to use the chat features. |
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CommercialismWhen you buy a Beanie Baby for around $6, you're instructed to log into ty.com, the parent site of Beanie Babies, which also conveniently has many other online ty.com-related product sites. At Beaniebabies.com, kids find their one Beanie Baby quite lonely without any other Beanie Babies in the "family pod." Guess kids (or more aptly parents) will have to go buy another one to put into the family pod! |
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Educational ValueIt's a stretch to call this site educational. Most games are arcade-style simple. The most challenging game may be a Beanie Baby trivia game where you have to know all about the products to win (see commercialism warning above). |
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