Club Penguin Review helps Parents -Interesting Dialogue Continues

Categories: Feedback, Social Media, Virtual WorldPosted on July 10th, 2006

I recently wrote a post on Club Penguin and am amazed at the response of comments that I’m getting. Apparently, parents are doing research on this social networking site for 8-14 year olds, and are going to my blog to learn more.

I wasn’t intending this to be a review to arm parents (as I consider my core audience to be web and marketing folks) but am glad nonetheless.

I even was contacted by the Club Penguin management team, (parents, cops, and friends too) both via email and in my comments. Check out the post here as I review Web Strategy: Social Networking site for 8-14 year olds –Club Penguin.

Apparently if you Google “Club Penguin Review” I come up second. (at least during this Sunday evening). The Club Penguin management team is doing good by engaging parents here on my blog.

Lastly, I applaud parents that are taking an active involvement in their children’s online experience (as they should with their offline as well). I’m pleased to be a service to the online community.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 10th, 2006 at 12:15 am and is filed under Feedback, Social Media, Virtual World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

[...] As a web strategist, I often will experiment with each website to understand it (even social sites for 8-12 year olds like Club Penguin and even Walmart’s myspace site) [...]

Posted by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » Web Strategy: Harness the Collective Knowledge of your customers –Instructables on July 23rd, 2006 at 5:00 pm

it would be fun if there were other chat games like club penguin but featuring other animals or avatars that kids can make themselves if there are any other sties please tell us

Posted by jenn on February 25th, 2007 at 2:42 pm

Yesterday my 9 year old daughters friend shared Club Penguin with us and I let my daughter register. In the 30 min we were on, 3 times we were approached by other penguins asking “girl or boy?” I guess curious little penguins first off want to know what sex they are dealing with, (or could this be a predator? How do you really know?).
After a few meaningless words with one of her new friends, a boy, we noticed another little penguin, showing obvious sadness, mad faced, then she asked our new buddy, “Are you going with HER now? Is she your new friend?” This little penguin was obviously jealous and having a hard time dealing with her boy buddies new friend. Then we witnessed a making up and they threw hearts back and forth to each other and then disappeared.
You draw your own conclusion.
In my opinion this type of site in all its innocence is a just precursor for Myspace. For now, my daughter can find other things to do, outside preferably, and enjoy her childhood. Why rush things? Club Penguin, you’re cute and seemingly well intentioned but no thanks!

Posted by Dawn on May 4th, 2007 at 7:45 am

Dawn

Thanks for sharing, but I doubt these “human reactions” things will go away, club penguin, myspace, or in real life. I understand a parents’ concern, and I can tell you’re an excellent parent, which will be the most important thing.

Posted by jeremiah_owyang on May 6th, 2007 at 7:52 pm

Same Thing here. Except a little bit different. I can,t help but to say we need better moderation of the chat. For instance a bad word can get through simply like this, f u c k you. I Have seen it when my child was on and this little innocent penguin was the victim. My child reported the player and waddled away. I do not let her go on it anymore unless theres better moderation!!!

Posted by John on May 8th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

what website builder did you make the game off

Posted by boby on May 31st, 2007 at 5:01 pm

[...] Pogo Is a platform of games, where there’s advertising opportunities and chance to win prizes. Somehow this resembles online casinos, the concepts are very similar. What makes these games so special? Their low barriers to entry, sometimes logins aren’t even required, their fast, and easy to play. Instant gratification. Minclip Inside Miniclip you can see a variety of games, all for the time limited user. Note the promotion of Club Penguin, a game I was covering and experimenting before they started to explode. In fact, I still get a lot of traffic for the terms “club penguin review” from Google searches. [...]

Posted by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » Industry Watch: Web based gaming Yahoo, Kongregate, Pogo, and Miniclip grow on June 12th, 2007 at 10:02 am

essa clara santos tem que pagar ao dr. nacul ! ns nao podemos aceitar oque esta mulher esta fazendo
de: joao leite da silva

Posted by joao leite da silva on June 17th, 2007 at 10:18 am

que horror oque esta mulher esta fazendo! ela tem que pagar ao nacul agora

we love clubpengui\”"”"”"”!!!!!!!

Posted by nina on June 17th, 2007 at 11:54 am

we love clubpenguin
we love clubpenguin
it is the best
it is the best
i like clubpenguin
i like clubpenguin
we like the way it vests!!!
YAY FOR CLUBPENGUIN =)

Posted by nina on June 17th, 2007 at 11:55 am

[...] I’ve been watching Club Penguin before it started to get mainstream, in fact I even played around, and built my own little Igloo. Social networks arn’t just for teens, young kids are using them too. [...]

Posted by Web Strategy by Jeremiah » Breaking: Disney Acquires Club Penguin for $700 Million on August 1st, 2007 at 3:38 pm

i am considering allowing my 11 year old daughter have a membership at club penguin but i am weary of such sites, i dont want some dusguised sex predator contacting my daughter…. any helpful comments ?

Posted by paul on August 28th, 2007 at 7:48 pm

Dont weiry I am a thirteen year old boy that plays on club penguin all the time and I have not had one person to come up to me and ask me a sex question or any thing like that the only thing people ask me is boy or girl and I dont take that as a sex question at all I take that as if they want to be my friend or not or a nother thing people asking do you wanna be a couple some times I say yes some times I say no but it realy depends about the conversation you had with the person before they asked that but still never tell them your address or any thing like that or they might be a sex preditor and if you feel not sure about the person just report them or you can also be a secret agent if your over thirty days old and I also admet I have asked do you wanna be a couple my self before but still im not a sex preditor so just watch who your talking to and good luck from me Ninja Zr1

Posted by Ninja Zr1 on September 11th, 2007 at 4:49 pm

Don’t worry on Club Penguin there is no swearing tolerated and sexual talk. If this happens you will get banned forever which is a real shame. On club penguin there is even the option to report players for bad penguin names or saying crude things. Also club penguin have many moderators on every server watching whats happening.

Posted by Tricky Trick on September 19th, 2007 at 2:17 pm

Club penguin is a cool website for educational learning for younger children i think its alright i dont think any nasty things get on as there are moderators on every screen that watch you so if you are thinking about giving your children a membership do so money well spent!

Posted by David p on October 6th, 2007 at 8:20 am

hey im 11, and i play club penguin. and club penguin does have people that ask, “wanna be a couple.” sometimes i say yes, sometimes no. but the point is that moderators always block swearing. usually they block mean things, but sometimes it gets through and someone’s feelings get hurt. but if your really worried you can just like get an ultamite safe chat account. go on their official site to find out wat that is. Also, a tip : being a member makes others totally respect you more. that’s why i am a member.
Bottom line: PLAY CLUB PENGUIN, IT TOTALLY ROX!

Posted by play club penguin it TOTALLY ROX! on November 2nd, 2007 at 12:21 pm

PS when you are a “couple” with someone, the only thing really involved with that is you send them heart emoticons, and then they send a heart emoticon back at you. then you just hang out with them and chat, so it is more like social interaction then really being a “couple” with someone.

Posted by play club penguin it TOTALLY ROX! on November 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 pm

i am writing to tell you that the penguins are very cute and it is very tempting because i like penguins. and im sure for many of you that you preffer your kids playing hours on the club so you dont have to pay for a babysitter. but not me. i preffer my children to read!!!!! this is a waste of time and it could make children sick emotionally. these kids are getting addicted to it. and i think its not good. this is another way of making money out of children when they are suposed to be STUDYING AND PLAYING SPORTS!!! so please parents be careful

Posted by Martina on December 1st, 2007 at 4:39 pm

amateur from sex amateur sex san

Posted by amateur after sex on December 12th, 2007 at 7:45 am

Life does need to consist of fun. Not just studying and play sports. I hate sports, not everyone is great and sports. Their are other things. It gets me so angry. People can also play instruments. But I see nothing wrong with this site. You do need to watch how long they are on it, but that is with most things. And if your worried about the predator thing, don’t. You cant type in numbers. And just tell your child to not do the bf gf thing. Not everyone on CP does that. I just tell people No and if they persist i put them on the ignore list.

Posted by Etzos on January 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 pm

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Posted by makayla on January 26th, 2008 at 12:02 pm

HHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

[...] “Dad, can I join Club Penguin?”  I’d heard of Club Penguin before, when Jeremiah Owyang had written it up, but I really didn’t give it much thought after that.  It’s a social [...]

Posted by Network Security Blog » They grow up so quickly: Club Penguin on March 9th, 2008 at 3:21 pm

There is nothing wrong with CP. It is overprotected.

Posted by Club Penguin Moderator on March 15th, 2008 at 10:42 pm

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by CP Fan on March 30th, 2008 at 8:06 pm

thats stupid i didn’t read the whole thing but you should be able to say f u c k you on cp so fffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk you

Posted by adam on April 5th, 2008 at 8:53 pm

you suck !!!

Posted by adam on April 5th, 2008 at 8:54 pm

[...] asked me “Dad, can I join Club Penguin?” I’d heard of Club Penguin before, when Jeremiah Owyang had written it up, but I really didn’t give it much thought after that. It’s a social media/virtual world [...]

Posted by They grow up so quickly: Club Penguin | liv-lust on June 12th, 2008 at 5:24 am

im a clubpenguin member…..and i dont think this has anything to do with s e x because these are not serious relationships they are just kids learning to become an adult. I know im only 10 years old but this has nothing to do with s e x preditors but the hearts r just kids being loving and caring if u know wat i mean….well say wat u want but I LOVE U CP!!!!!

Posted by mikelamw on September 20th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

Yes all kids should go play out doors and not play on the computer. Im 12 and i play clubpenguin, Parents You can make how long you child plays and when they go on. go on the clubpenguin site and your parents can have a acount to see what ur doing and you can set a time and date on when they can use the clubpenguin.

I hope this help.

Posted by Hinata on January 16th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

how long are you banned from club penguin for saying the word sex? pleas do tell how long

Posted by Nights 11 on February 17th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

My boys used the site for a while and grew bored with it. I tried to cancel the paid, monthly membership but their site would not allow me to do so. I sent an email to their customer service department, but my credit card was charged again. I sent another email asking for a credit because they did not cancel the membership as I requested. They refused to take care of the credit. I sent another emai, and they refused again. I sent yet another email, but so far nothing has been done. Sadly, customer service doesn’t seem to be a priority to Club Penguin.

Posted by Dadof2boys on March 29th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

Club penguin is really safe for children to have lots of fun whilst they also learn. My own children have been using club penguin for nearly 1 year now and I think its great and I’ve honestly never seen anything that would cause parents concern!!!!

Club penguin is encouraging their creativitiy, plus they are doing simple maths sums working out how many coins they need to purchase something and of course practising valuable reading skills when they read the weekly club penguin newspaper and hand/eye co-ordination and mouse/keyboard skills as they play the different games within club penguin. They meet up with their friends from school on club penguin and play together in a virtual world that in my opinion is far safer than msn or other chat-room alternatives!

Parents can stay completely in control as they can restrict length of time a child can play on club penguin, cut off times and can even restrict to ultimate safe chat should they wish to do so.

There are really strict filters and many words that might cause offense are filtered (child sees the words appear but they are not transmitted for others to see). If a child types an inappropriate word they usually get a 24hr ban initially, but bans can be made permanent depending on circumstances. Players can also report other penguins for inappropriate behaviour or inappropriate wordings that arn’t caught by the filters.

My only complaint is that every Friday morning my kids (and also I) log onto club penguin to see what has changed (having read the paper to find out what is about to happen in club penguin the day before!!!!!)

I’d say to parents - have a play and discover for yourself the learning and fun potential of club penguin!!!!!