Kidgurus

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Poorly executed social site offers no reason to visit.
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

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this social networking site for tweens looks like it was slapped together quickly in hopes of making a few bucks off advertising. It's too bad because the idea -- networking mixed with plenty of opportunities to be creative -- is good, and we found nothing harmful. However, the look and content are of poor quality. The kids this site might attract if it were better executed are better off building online relationships someplace else like Yomod or Ning.

  • The site promotes creativity by encouraging children to submit stories, poems, videos, photos, drawings and puzzles. Submissions that receive the highest star ratings from other users are featured as most popular.
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  • Ads aren’t intrusive but they’re junky looking and not age appropriate. Some have fuzzy or squished graphics and misleading links, advertising one product but leading to another site (usually an upscale online boutique for baby items called The Dapper Baby). The creator of Kidgurus, Sounder Dilipan, also advertises his Web design and marketing business on the site.
  • There's little privacy protection here, starting with invasive registration questions that require name, school, and grade, and ask for phone numbers. The site FAQ says moderators hand check submissions before allowing them to be posted, but our "story" appeared on the site instantaneously. Users can't edit or remove items once submitted. There are no parental control options.

Is it any good?

 

With its emphasis on creativity, Kidgurus has the potential to be a great social networking site for kids -- but it needs a complete overhaul. To start with, it's been poorly translated from another language; (the log-in instructions, for example, say: "the people to register for free to upload the articles"). This will confuse and put off kids, as will the poor graphics, nonworking tools, and odd content, a lot of which appears to be filler posted to make the site look more active than it is. Kidgurus targets kids 19 and younger but the current incarnation is unlikely to appeal to kids of any age.    

Online interaction: There are so few ways to interact that it's hard to gauge the tenor of the community. Email doesn't work and the chat rooms were empty every time we visited. The few entries submitted appear to have been posted mostly by adults (e.g. photo albums of new cars, new babies, etc.).  Visitors are encouraged to flag objectionable content but there's no easy way to do this, just a contact email address.


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What families can talk about

  • What makes a good social networking site for kids? Discuss tools, content and community: are the features easy to use, content created by other users inspiring, and the community lively? Read our social network tips.

  • Discuss how a site like Kidgurus does not have to be as slick as Disney.com to be worthwhile, but poor production values can be a tip-off to overall unsuitability.


This review was written by Carla Thornton
Kid, 11 years old
August 18, 2010
 
BORING
IT IS SO BORING!!!!

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This review was written by Carla Thornton
This review was written by Carla Thornton

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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.

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