BANGALORE: Yogita Sharma, 12, first heard about Facebook when she was ten years old, and her friends at school thought it was a good idea to share updates and the buzz beyond school hours, especially on holidays.
Yogita's mother Sanyukta, however, is a worried parent, because of concerns about her child getting exposed to adult content and unknown, anonymous folks trying to connect with her. And, despite trying hard to block Yogita from using the internet, the fear lingers. "It's a wild, wild world out there, and there is no way I can be policing around all the time," says Sanyukta, who is a manager at one of the top private sector banks in Bangalore.
Meanwhile, for school-going tweens like Yogita, who is among the nearly eight million of India's 55 million internet users, being on Facebook and Twitter is the 'coolest' thing to do. "I have a cousin in the US and we share the latest on music and movies. I also love to meet people from across the world," Yogita says.
While students and adults over 18 years are freely surfing the Net and creating second lives on various social media platforms, those below 13 years, and with enough to do online are not authorised to have their own accounts.
Not until Togetherville — a Facebook-like platform for kids under 13 was launched in May this year. Togetherville, aimed at children between six and 13 years, allows kids to share videos, play games and get comfortable with the online world. The site allows parents to build social world for their kids by linking them up with the kids of their Facebook friends.
Currently, only Facebook members can open Togetherville accounts for their kids. Facebook, has around 500 million users globally, of which 12 million are in India. The new site, currently testing its beta version, allows kids to build their own profiles, play pre-screened games and do much more — all under parental control.
The idea behind Togetherville is to involve parents in mentoring their children to become good netizens. "By restricting internet usage for kids under 13, we're missing an important opportunity to help them develop the online social skills they need in today's wired world," Mandeep Singh Dhillon, co-founder and CEO of Togetherville said while announcing the launch in May this year.
"In Togetherville, parents have peace of mind that their kids are playing with people they know and trust and kids have fun while learning the tools they need to become good digital citizens," Dhillon added.
While the site is yet to launch its Indian version, many tweens in the country are already becoming a part of the community. "I now have a Togetherville account after I got my father to use his Facebook account last month. It's quite cool — more lively and colourful than the Facebook," says Yogita.
Her classmates Nisha and Prashant studying in the standard sixth at a Bangalore-based school are also impressed with the looks of Togetherville, and plan to open their accounts over the weekend.
However, some parents are sceptical about whether kids need a dedicated social networking