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A Tween-Friendly Social Media Site: BunkiMunki
November 17th, 2011
Tweens—children between the ages of 8 and 12— seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place these days. Or caught between Webkinz and Facebook. Many tweens feel that they are too old for the online gaming world of Webkinz and many of their parents feel that they are too young for the social networking world of Facebook.
This October, though, three Canadian mothers have come up with a solution called BunkiMunki. Kids are encouraged to “unlock the power of happiness” on this brand-new social media site aimed at the younger generation. This online community is fairly simple; kids sign up under an alias, and then they can play games and earn “Bunki Bucks” to purchase clothing and accessories for their online persona. There are no pictures, no ads on the site, and no personal information is exchanged. There is a wall of wonderful and a personal journal for recording thoughts and feelings. It seems, really, like the perfect social media platform for tweens.
There is a slight catch, however. Parents must pay for complete access to the site. Unlike other social networking sites, which are usually free for users, BunkiMunki asks parents to fork over a membership fee—$27 for six months or $45 for a year. Update: BunkiMunki does, indeed, offer a paid premium option but there is also a free option for kids who want to play. It is important to note that although the premium option does open all areas of the site, there is still a fully functioning free site for kids to play and enjoy.
There’s not question that for parents, this is a much safer route than some of the other public social media sites. But do our kids really need to be on social media at this young an age? And would you pay for it?
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