Photo: Jason Cartwright on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
CBBC controller Richard Deverell has blogged a helpful confirmation of the BBC's plans for a personalised CBBC service for kids - rather unhelpfully mis-reported as 'Facebook for kids' by some lazy headlines last week.
It's not a social networking site, but a service with some social media features; children can save their favourite pieces of content from the BBC and partner sites to their own customisable page, play video clips and be reminded about favourite programmes.
Unexpectedly, safety is the highest priority and the reason that the BBC's online services for children will always be understandably minimal when it comes to communication features. MyCBBC goes about as far as it could towards personalisation without involving a network of friends, which is a shame, but inevitable.
The most popular social net sites have age restrictions, Deverell said.
"We wanted to create a space on CBBC that offered children a first taste of the fun and functionality of a personalised space and the ability to exchange information with their peers - but to do so in a wholly safe and age appropriate environment," he said, wisely adding that the whole project cost £250,000 - roughly the same as 2-3 hours of entertainment of factual TV programming.
The site rolls out in the middle of March.
Source: BBC Internet Blog
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