 | 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. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Yoursphere
Common Sense Media says
Kid-only social network promises to block dangerous adults.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Yoursphere requires parents to submit to a background check for identity verification before activating a child's account. The social networking site for kids 18 and under includes games, a virtual world, a credit system where are rewarded for positive interaction in the community, and more. That said, content is squeaky clean, the strict membership rules surely will weed out some undesirables, and sign-ups are vetted against a database of registered sex offenders.
Is it any good?
YOURSPHERE is the creation of Mary Kay Hoal, a Davis, CA, mother of five determined to provide her children a safe online alternative to MySpace. Only children between the ages of up to age 18 may use Yoursphere, which touts itself as the first youth-oriented social network to guarantee no sexual predators. Joining requires that a parent register first and undergo identification verification. On this site, kids can set up a page, friend other members, and join "spheres" -- activity channels such as TV & Movies, Music, and Gaming.
The site boasts a young, appealing design, from the flash-graphics-heavy home page to the profile pages, which feature a Facebook-like news feed of friends' activities. Revolving safety tips keep kids constantly on the alert to online dangers, while the options of email, posting photos, and creating additional channels nicely mimic adult social networks.
Online interaction: Kids can start a blog, connect with friends, play multiplayer games, ask or answer questions on a variety of topics to share with the community, participate in chat rooms and message boards, and more. The site promotes positive interactions and may remove users who violate the rules.
What families can talk about
Families can talk social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and whether they guard the safety of kids, especially kids under 13. How do they compare to sites like Yoursphere when it comes to kids' safety? Check out Common Sense Media's Facebook for Parents tipsheet.
Families can also talk about being safe in social networks.
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- Teens & kids
AGE
dangerous!
first of all, part of this site is OURWORLD, which CSM rates at age 13, but this site is rated 9. what gives????
I can tell you that I find the content far too violent and sex-infused for my 10 and 12 yo's. and my 12 yo has been found by and able to find other participants via the site itself, so the privacy is a joke.
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AGE
Yousphere site is not very active. ClubPonyPals* has an active social network, lots of positive messages and its 100% adult human moderated. There are fun games and the social site is free. Plus you can adopt and ride a pony!
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Kid, 12 years old
March 18, 2011
AGE
I love this site my daughters go on it all the time. I feel like they are perfectly face
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AGE
My Daughter Loves Yoursphere
Like any 13-year-old my daughter wants to dive head first in to the "rule free" world of adults. She grimaces and rolls her eyes with the best of them. Like any mom I want to keep my daughter young and protected.
I cringe at the number of my daughter's friends who have set up MySpace and FaceBook pages -- without their parent's permission AND using phony ages. Yes, these 12- and 13-year-olds are listing themselves as 15 or older. As an adult I know to only accept friends who I KNOW. I have a feeling a 13-year-old might accept any and all friendship requests. Who knows who is lurking on FaceBook trolling for unsuspecting teens. Scary.
For me, Yoursphere is a safe place for my daughter to network. I am confident about and comfortable with the environment of the spheres on Yoursphere. My daughter, a budding writer, loves writing on Yoursphere. Yoursphere allows kids to write about what they want -- I am sure at times the writing seems juvenile and irrelevant to adults, but these are kids 9-18 writing for other kids 9-18. My daughter loves the feedback she gets from other budding writers in her writing sphere. She refers to them as her "peer editors."
As for the cost of Yoursphere, I look back at the computer games and online services I have purchased in the past for my children when they were younger. In the past I have purchased a CD-ROM game or two per year for approx. $30 per game. I've also paid for about 30 WebKinz and the online experience for my little ones @$12-$14 each. Yoursphere is an extension of my child's online learning experience.
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Kid, 10 years old
July 15, 2011
AGE
okk...................
its ok... there are no sexual Preditors on that site.
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AGE
Yoursphere is great fun for kids, educational & safe
My 10 year old son is a huge fan of Yoursphere. He is on the shy side so the social aspect of this site has really helped build his confidence by connecting him to kids who share his interests. He's made friends from kids all over the country, and I don't worry about inappropriate contact from adults one bit.
The site monitors activity very closely and handles any off-limits behavior in a timely. sensitive manner.
Also, the founder has a website called YoursphereForParents that I subscribed to awhile ago. It has easy to understand practical advice for setting privacy controls on all your kids' electronic toys, and I've learned a lot about some of the seriously privacy and safety issues that affect families. I encourage my family and friends to be informed and proactive. The Internet and social sites have so much to offer but like anything else you need to use these tools appropriately.
My son told me I should be sure to tell you that Yoursphere is :"fun", kids can do "a lot of cool stuff" and the virtual world is "awesome."
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Kid, 12 years old
March 29, 2011
AGE
Lurv it!
Really love it here! The only problem is I can't go to the included virtual world, but it is very awesome other than that!
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AGE
Not very safe
Not as safe as it seems. It has a long way to go
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Kid, 10 years old
September 5, 2011
AGE
I love this channel-i mean site.
This is the best kids social network ever.
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| Genre: | Social Networking |
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