• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 7, age appropriate for kids over 8; suggested age 8.

• Is it any good?

  4.0

• Common Sense says

  Tween virtual world cultivates pro-girl culture of fun.

Why We Rated This for Ages 8 and Up

The good stuff

• Educational value:

  Girls get to explore different looks and identities via avatars they can dress and rooms they can decorate.  There are pop quiz and trivia challenge games, but kids have to leave the virtual world in order to play them on the main Miss O & Friends site. 
• User-created content:

  Girls can show off rooms and avatars decorated with items from the virtual mall. 
• Messages:

  The site promotes friendship and good, clean fun, in the form of virtual parties and shopping. 

What to watch out for

• Violence:

  Not an issue.
• Sex:

  Not an issue.
• Language:

  Not an issue.
• Consumerism:

  Girls play games to earn virtual money for clothes, furniture, and pets. There are no ads -- but in order to play many of the games users have to exit out to the main Miss O & Friends site, which does have flashing banners. All the products advertised are kid-friendly but some of the pop-ups are hard to make go away.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Not an issue.

How safe is it?

• Personal privacy:

  Privacy is good overall though not bulletproof. Parents can set chat to a pre-scripted mode, which limits conversations to safe canned words and phrases, and kids can make their accounts private. According to the site, all messages sent in freestyle mode are filtered for inappropriate language and personal info for safety. However, our test of the filter didn't catch everything that violates this policy.
• Online interaction:

  Online interactions are friendly and positive. The site helps ensure this with a pre-scripted chat mode and profanity filter. If offensive language does slip through,  users can notify moderators with a few clicks of the mouse. The site rewards friendly overtures by keeping a running tally of hugs received from other players.
• Parental controls:

  Parents keep a comfortable level of control. Preteens need parental permission to join Miss O Club Plus+, which features the virtual world, and parents can choose whether kids will use a freestyle or prescreened chat mode.

What Parents Need to Know

About Miss O & Friends Virtual World

Families Can Talk About