Parents' Guide to Grom Social

Website http://www.gromsocial.com
Grom Social Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Polly Conway By Polly Conway , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 10+

Social network for kids, by kids, is safe but flawed.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 10+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 6+

Based on 2 parent reviews

 

 

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age 8+

Based on 1 kid review

 

 

See all 1 kid review

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.
  • Unclear whether data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
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What's It About?

GROM SOCIAL was created when 10-year-old Zach Marks was kicked off Facebook by his parents. The experience led him to build a social network \"for kids, by kids,\" which he did with the help of his family. Kid users, aka \"groms,\" can sign up with a parent's approval. They can then browse around Grom Social, checking out the Grom Weekly, which features a variety of categories such as Entertainment, where kids can read reviews of films like Smurfs 2 and of TV shows like Dancing with the Stars. The Sports, School Responsibilities, and Health & Fitness categories also contain newsy articles. The Video page offers sports videos, funny videos, and retro cartoons, with links to YouTube.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 2 ):
Kids say ( 1 ):

The design is pretty in-your-face and almost too colorful. Kids probably won't bat an eye, but its appearance is pretty unappealing to adults. It's marketed as being for kids age 5-15, but it's difficult to imagine any good reasons for a 5-year-old to frequent a social network, no matter how many activities are available there.

The site is a family's pet project, and it's apparent. Lots of content is by founder Zach Marks, who is now 13 years old. Though his contributions are fine, more contributors would round out the site. There's a nice selection of DIY-themed videos, which teach you things like how to make your own greenhouse or build a skateboard, but they're difficult to find. There's only one parent comment, which is anonymous; some feedback from other sources would make the site feel more legitimate.

The cartoon images of both a female child and a midriff-baring mom are more sexualized than one might expect, and the link to a "sexy abs" video, which appears when you click "Exercise for Girls 10 and Up", is inexcusable. This kind of ignorance holds back Grom Social.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about communicating through a social network. What sorts of things can you share online that you can't in person?

  • Make sure your kids know why online safety is so important; check out our Social Media and Kids video for advice.

Website Details

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