Young Kids Online

The following info is from nielsen-netratings.com. It was done in 2004. It focused on kids slightly younger thanwhat I was intending to research (11), but if you think about it, the kids that were 11 in 2004 are now 14, so this shows us our taget demographic's history as web-surfers...

I think the info of boys' internet usage VS. girl's internet usage is also helpful.

Interesting Quote:

“While kids are not necessarily spending more time online, they are digesting more content at a faster pace,” said Charles Buchwalter, vice president of analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings. “Savvy marketers are successfully integrating brand loyalty initiatives by translating television programming into engaging Websites that provide kids with interactive, kid-friendly destinations featuring their favorite characters, keeping kids focused on their Websites.”

If you think about this is terms of our project, and compare it to the whole Webkinz craze, I think that what kids are finding essential to maintain their attention is some sort of attachment to a character, whether that be a TV cartoon character or a Webkinz pet. This may not be true of users in the 7th and 8th grade girl demographic, but it is likely that this kind of online behavior has been a part of their past.

The article went on to explain which sites have seen the most rapid growth that are typically visited by boys VS. sites that are typically visited by girls.

The top five for girls were: MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Cartoon Network, DisneyChannel.com and Macromedia

Top five for Boys: DisneyChannel.com, RealOne Player, Kraft Entertainment, Amazon.com and Cartoon Network

So you can see that girls were becomming more interested in talking with their friends while boys seemed to be into entertainment-driven sites.

The girls are already talking to eachother, it's just how we work the news into their conversations that we need to figure out.

Any thoughts?