Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this very creative social networking site encourages girls to express themselves by making online scrapbooks -- which by their nature disclose personal information -- about everything from clothes to global warming. Moderators do scan the site 24/7, but user-submitted content (sex and violent images and topics) and language ("bitch," "s--t") isn't always clean. The site's also very commercial, borrowing content from the parent company's (CondeNast) magazines. Advertising is integral to the site; in addition to traditional ads, graphics and themes from advertisers are available for users to include in their Flipbooks. Girls should also understand that it might not just be peers reading their poetry and learning about their best friends.
Families can talk about online safety. What are the potential pitfalls of sharing personal information online? What kind of information is off-limits? How can you tell if the person complimenting your creativity is really another teenage girl?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Angela Freeman
Teens have a new way to express their creativity thanks to FLIP.COM, a social networking site that hopes to lure teenage girls away from MySpace.com. The site comes from media giant Conde Nast which publishes such teen magazines Teen Vogue, YM, Allure, and others.
The main attraction of Flip.com is the Flipbook -- a multimedia scrapbook that users create by uploading their own photos, drawings, music, videos and graphics, or by choosing from the site's online libraries. Users are encouraged to create multiple flipbooks -- in fact, they're ranked by how many they create -- and share them with other users, who then comment on them and recommend them to others.
The drag-and-drop Flipbooks are easy to create, and offer a seemingly endless array of customization options. And customized they are! Many are simple books that offer insight into the everyday things that are important to girls, an online version of decorating your locker door with posters, stickers, or quotations cut from magazine headlines. Others are an amazing look at just how deeply teens care about the world they live in -- one highly-rated book takes a stark look at issues from poverty to self-esteem to global warming.
Other features include standard social networking fare like message boards, friend networks, clubs, tagging, and filters for finding profiles with the most views (or most Flipbooks). Not all the content is user-generated; the site's editors create their own Flipbooks for four content Channels: My Life, Entertainment, Style, and The World.
Advertising is tightly integrated into the site in novel ways. Static ads appear on the site, as well as popping up between page loads, but marketers can also put their logos and images in the online library for girls to use in their flip books. For example, the "princess"-themed background contains images from Vera Wang's "Princess" perfume ad campaign. That same product is the sponsor of a Flipbook contest, where girls are invited to create a flipbook entitled "Why I'm Born to Rule." Yes, it's a marketing ploy designed to pique interest in perfume, but as advertising goes, it's got some redeeming value, in that it's encouraging girls to think of themselves as leaders.
Fans of the site might also enjoy Facebook.com, and MySpace.com.
Reviewed: 04/26/2007
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Sexual ContentFlipbooks and message boards reflect what's on the minds of teenage girls, which often includes sex and dating. |
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ViolenceUser-submitted content could contain violent topics. |
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LanguageUser-submitted content sometimes contains coarse language ("I'm bitch slapping her in my head"). |
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Social BehaviorUser-submitted content includes mature social topics such as dating and social activism, etc. |
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CommercialismAdvertising and shopping advice is tightly integrated into content. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoUser-submitted content could contain information about drug use. |
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Educational ValueContent submitted by users often discusses education goals and interests. |
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