Whateverlife (http://Whateverlife.com)
common sense media says
Ambitious teen social network shows promise but needs work.
parents & educators say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this social networking site for teens was started by a Michigan girl and her pals who enjoy designing Web sites. Though not quite finished, it already has too much advertising, and we accidentally saw what might be evidence that the site intends to sell members' information.
In all other ways, Whateverlife seems safe and wholesome enough, with a full set of social networking tools coupled with a download page for kids interested in HTML. Its bubbly teen female founder gives it a nice girl-power kind of vibe. However, it's still in beta, so parents will want to keep an eye on how the community grows, especially Cupid Mail, a promised email option that matches "compatible" members.
Educational value:
Kids can learn a bit of HTML and other Web design skills by trading tips with other members. Journal writing and places to post videos and photos provide other creative outlets.
Violence:
Not applicable.
Sex:
One old photo of Mark Wahlberg from his underwear modeling days, and come-hither profile photos of teen girls showing cleavage and kissing their boyfriends.
Language:
Liberal use of OMG. One "bitch."
Consumerism:
This not-quite-completed site is already overloaded with ads. None of the products are objectionable but there are banners on most pages, Google text ads and ads users have to click through before accessing certain parts of the site. Even user profiles have ads, in our case a 15-second Woolite commercial and a large teeth whitener ad. Like most kids’ social networks, this one awards points kids can use to buy schwag at a virtual mall and even lets kids buy points, called WhateverBucks, with real money. That's not all: the site asks kids for cash donations to keep it going, PayPal accepted.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
Not applicable.
Privacy & safety:
Privacy seems excellent, at least on the surface. Kids can choose who sees every bit of personal information from join date to online status. Other great options: kids can choose to get email at a personal inbox instead of the site’s, delete their own accounts, even hide visits to others' profiles. We're not sure how safe kids' information is from third parties, though. While signing up we were greeted with the odd message, "We care about the quality of our profiles and guarantee that every user of our system is real, so if you purchase someone's contact information, you can be sure that your money isn't wasted." The site did not return an email asking about the message.
Children younger than 13 need parents' emailed permission to join, but like most social networking sites, this one makes it easy for kids to lie about their ages.
More on Whateverlife
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Most useful reviews by all members
vyrgomd
teen, 17 years old
teen, 17 years old
Need to clean up a bit.
I think it's an ok site. The pictures and language is disgusting, though. I mean, I've seen people cussing up a storm when I got on there. And the girls show cleavage like there is no tomorrow. I think they should clean it up a bit.
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japanesetiger
kid, 12 years old
kid, 12 years old
its okay for older kids i guess but the first thing that happened when i got there i saw a boy and gurl french kissing and it loooked sooooooooo gross!
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