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GNTV: Disney--Raising Kids on Social Networks

I’ve said it before: if you want to understand the future, go talk to some kids. Watch what they do. Watch their habits. Chances are these won’t change much as they go through life. The emerging generation seems to me best described as the Online Generation. They hang out online in spaces that are virtual. There they form relationships that are very real. Kids today are joining online social networks at increasingly early ages. At Club Penguin, acquired by Disney last year, they are joining at pre-school age. The Disney Internet Group hopes to attract kids, then with a series of other online virtual world-based communities continue to engage them. Their portfolio now includes Nickleodeon and Toontown. Most recently came the highly engaging and interactive Pirates of the Caribbean, which mostly attracts boys. Soon Pixie Hollow will come out for teenage girls who can assume a Fantastic little avatar. Last year Disney bought Club Penguin http://clubpenguin.com/ which now is estimated to have more than 100 million users, some of them as young as age 4. Under heavy security, Penguin members can meet and talk with other children. They can learn commerce by selling goods and services in exchange for virtual money. And as the kids grow older they can transition from one Virtual World designed for them to another, each providing the quality charm of Disney that is part of Disney’s occasionally controversial trademark. So what happens when this Online Generation grows up and enters the market and takes seats in the cubicles of your business? How will this Online Generation emerge? Will they be the same or different from their own parents in the market and as professionals? I took those questions with me to Disney Interactive Studios in Burbank recently, where I interviewed a few members of the senior team including President Steve Wadsworth. In their vision, as they express it on this clip. The next generation will be more social, more collaborative and perhaps a better place. All things considered, I tend to agree.

Hoot's 1st Road trip.

Hoot at Gloden Gate Bridge, originally uploaded by shelisrael1. Hoot has joined me on a road trip to SNCR Forum. He didn't care much for the ride. He prefers flying. He's come along because there have been a couple of interview requests. After all, he has rapidly become the world's most famous plastic owl. We drove up with Kami Huyse and RichardatDell. Hoot was unimpressed with the Golden Gate Bridge. He said the aerial view was better. See additional Hoot shots.

James Karl Buck Twitters his way out of Egypt Jailhouse

While I was posting a video clip yesterday about Twitter & some of the neat things people & businesses can do with it, James Karl Buck found a new one. He was tossed into an Egyptian jail cell. Apparently, in Egypt where abuse of prisoners is common, they let him keep his phone. So, he Twittered a single word: "ARRESTED." That put many wheels in motion and for him, it led to the US Embassy getting him out of both jail and back to his Oakland. But, Buck was told by police that his interpreter, Mohammed Maree was arrested and "he is a dead man." Since arriving here today. Buck has been doing his best to raise Hell on behalf of Mohammed. On his Twitter account he asks that anyone who cares contact Egyptian Press Consul Attiya A Shakran, (415) 346-3427 attiyashakran@hotmail.com (415) 548-0556 You can learn more about Mohammed at James' blog, linked to above. James is a journalism grad student at UC Berkeley. He was in Egypt to cover blogger involvement in the current demonstrations against food shortages. ABC News is saying those demonstrations turned turned into riots. In any case, Egypt is no place to get thrown into the slammer. Earlier this year, I interviewed Wael Abbas, who posts videos on YouTube showing abundant evidence of police abuse. A couple of weeks ago Wael told me he would be blogging about the strike. I hope that he is okay.

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