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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 11, age appropriate for kids over 14; suggested age 13.
  • Is it any good?

    2.0
  • Common Sense says

    Shallow celeb mag has unmonitored forums.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 13–14

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    None!
 

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    The site may encourage star-struck tweens and young teens to try to emulate celebrities that might not be the best role models.
  • Violence:

    Not an issue.
  • Sex:

    There are some general comments about the sexual appeal of certain celebrities, but nothing explicit (think school-girl-crush talk).
  • Language:

    Message board features the word "damn" -- and could let other swear words through.
  • Consumerism:

    The site contains ads for celeb Web sites and some major pushes for the print magazine. There's also a Pop Shop to purchase the magazine.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About PopStarOnline

Parents need to know that the unmonitored message boards are the biggest draw for this tween/teen celeb magazine site. They operate on a trust system -- users are asked not to post any vulgar, defamatory, hateful, or sexually oriented material, and a disclaimer warns that the site may remove messages although the messages and their content "are not responsibility of this forum." Members can email the site to report any offenses, and the site passively informs users that, due to COPPA regulations, users age 13 and under are not allowed to register -- but doesn't prevent them from doing so. The result: A cleaner board than you might expect, but invites to even more unregulated sites like MySpace are common. The rest of the lean site is innocuous.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the danger of providing personal information to people on message boards who may or may not be the age or gender they claim to be. What information is OK to share? Why is it important to never post a full name, address or phone number?

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Our Members Say

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. I rate this title on for age 10 and give it 4.0
    • My highlights are:
    • Safety isn't an issue

    good for 10 and up

    I can honestly say that it's an ok website for tweens, and teens. I mean, if you have to be obsessed with a website for a magazine, it could be this one.

  2. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in Oklahoma
    I rate this title iffy for age 11 and give it 3.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive consumerism

    Annoying and Advertising

    This is obviously Popstar!'s official site. On most of the blog postings, there is some kind of advertising for their magazine. I'm not sure if the rumors in the magazine are true or not, but I wouldn't trust them. I also am kind of turned off to the site with the mention of all the half-naked guys in and on the magazine. There were at least two shirtless posters in just one of the magazines I looked at, and the website definitely advertised that.

  3. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in North Carolina
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 1.0

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