Last month Professor Valerie Steeves, Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa, spoke at the 29th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners about children’s online privacy.  It’s an interesting (if not social-media paranoid) speech about blurring the line between content and marketing.  She focuses on Neopets, Barbie.com and Webkinz and their EULAs.

Here’s the video. Here are the notes.

I’m not sure what the panel had to say – but I hope someone touched on the fact that companies need to monetize traffic in order to create compelling content and that the creation of content by a community is not a bad thing. When I think of the latter in terms of real world, my local city would be a frustrating and boring place if I couldn’t: vote for change and actively participate in it, volunteer or communicate with my peers etc.

The issue of receiving virtual rewards for participation in a sponsored survey is indeed a little on the grey side…but my question is - why is everyone so scared of online?  You can bet that companies like McDonald’s have perfected the Happy Meal by looking at their real-world data. Not only that but they can watch your kids as they react at their favourite toys and watch you react with them.

In addition to abiding by PIPEDA and COPPA and self-regulating through CARU or ASC, companies can start writing their EULAs in kids speak and create clear community guidelines based on business rules so that there is some transparancy in the way that online companies operate (I like my local government this way too- I know they’re elected so it might not be a perfect example but still…).

I think speeches like this do nothing but encourage kids to be fearful of social media- when in fact everyone should educate kids on what personal info is and how to protect it so that they can have confidence and security online. 

It’s been a while since I’ve stumbled upon this comparison between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and online communities.

I think it’s a great example of what’s of basic importance to an online community. The more I think about it, the more I want to try and break down where I spend the most time focusing on. I pretty much have to balance all areas at all times depending on the demo and vertical of the community (new members have basic needs, old ones are more advanced, some niches are very needy while some thrive with little interaction etc. ).

Let’s face it, the physiological need of a community is or SHOULD be taken care of during the build of your site. That’s not to say that stuff won’t go wrong- because it will- but I think I spend a lot more time in the hacking, level-playing field and definitely in the privacy area when dealing with kids. Security and safety is a huge deal and the legalities of new technology should not be treated lightly.

What about social? Well, if you have a healthy community, the social tries to take care of itself. Old members welcome new members or if you have a gaming community your senior members often assign duties or recruit other members for a sub-community. Some communities never reach this point. If they do, it’s an easy step between this one and self-esteem.

Sometimes you can make small technical changes with features to your site to help with member status and esteem. Rank is a big deal to kids, but with adults you have to make it more worth their while. They have less disposable time and virtual rewards can be a tough sell.  This is a fun thing to play around with- when you find something that works you can see immediate results.

Once members have the respect of their peers, it’s a small step to finding ways that they are part of the voice as opposed to just being in the audience. When you empower key community members to help deliver your voice, you have just made your job that much easier.