Bolt

Review

Common Sense Media says

Ho-hum social site with lots of ads, iffy content.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this long-standing social networking site contains profanity, lewd and rude comments, and suggestive photos and videos, including a lot of featured content about "hot girls." There's prominent advertising throughout the site, including ads that are mixed in with content, such as videos promoting other Web sites. Teens can create profiles with photos and post information about themselves. Privacy settings allow users to restrict access to their profiles.

  • Positive messages0
    Some rude, mean comments on profiles and in forums.
  • Violence0
    Not applicable.
  • Sex3
    Videos of girls dancing around in their underwear, "sexy" profile pics of both guys and girls, sexual comments.
  • Language4
    Plenty of profanity, including "f--k" and "c--k." (A sample: "Would you like my c--k meat sandwich?")
  • Consumerism3
    A lot of advertising, including some ads masquerading as content.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking3
    A few images of smoking and drinking, and references to drinking, pot, and ecstasy.
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What's it about?

Before MySpace, Facebook, and hundreds of similar sites, there was BOLT.COM, an online teen community founded back in 1996, when many of today's social networkers were still in diapers. Today's Bolt.com has the standard features of most social sites: Users can create a profile, upload photos and videos, post comments, blog, and participate in forums. There's also a "tagbook" section, in which teens pose questions like "What song do you sing in the shower?" or "How do you get over a breakup?" -- as well as many more off-color inquiries.

Is it any good?

 

While Bolt may have been groundbreaking back in the '90s, today, there's not much that distinguishes it from other social sites. There's a lot of scatological humor and videos of scantily clad "hot girls," as well as a preponderance of advertising -- including those extremely annoying animated "claim your prize!" ads. Not that creative -- and not that good, either.

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What families can talk about

Families can talk about safety with social networking sites. How do you know if you can trust someone online? What are the potential pitfalls of sharing personal information online? What kind of information and images should be off limits?

This review was written by Susan Yudt

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This review was written by Susan Yudt
This review was written by Susan Yudt

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
Our child development rating guidelines

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