Site-Seeing -September 2008

Creating Communities with Your Computer

By S.C. Torrington

Once upon a time, organizing a car pool to the elementary school was as easy as walking next door to your neighbor. Play dates happened spontaneously at the corner playground. And your family was just a local phone call away. |
But, for many, those days have changed. Schedules are more complex, even for 8-year-olds. Family dinners take some coordinating. It’s as though, for a world that’s supposed to be getting smaller, the people in it sure seem more distant.
These websites help families pull their world back together.

Commily: Real Families. Real Communities
www.commily.com

Just launched this summer, Commily is a website that can help parents organize family life and connect to their local community.
Once you register, your Home Page is divided in Messages, Calendar & Activities, Groups, My Profile, and information About Commily, including its unique concept of revenue sharing. When the website goes from pilot to official release mode, Commily guarantees that a percentage of its revenue from each community will be donated to local charities selected by its Community Leaders.
Families are encouraged to create a Profile, including members, interests, and a favorite photo. Then Search for other users, families, or cities. Grow your group by inviting everyone you want or need to keep in touch with to join Commily. Create activities, invite friends, and then schedule the date on the calendar. The forms are already designed for playdates, carpools, and a dropdown menu with dozens of party themes and other activities.
Join or start a local parent group to hold topic discussions, coordinate events, publish group news, and more. In the Groups Directory, you can search for a group by name or location (up to 250 miles within a zip code.) Group Types include Team, Travel, School, even Hobby. Currently, Groups range from parents of 1- to 3-year-olds exploring childcare options in San Francisco to a youth baseball team in Elk Grove, Ill., to the neighbors of South Riding in Northern Virginia. Others are closed groups just for families, some with more than 100 members.
Although this website is new, it’s got great possibilities to easily keep in touch with all the people in your family’s lives with a click of the mouse. Plus, it provides a touch of painless philanthropic giving back to the communities it serves.

Disney Club Penguin: Waddle Around and Meet New Friends
www.clubpenguin.com

The Disney Company knows kids want their own communities, too. So they created Club Penguin, a snow-covered virtual island where kids can play games and interact in a fun-filled and safe online playground.
Membership affords special privileges to create and open an Igloo on the map, meet, and invite more friends to start chatting. Also, purchase game cards and gift certificates. Community is updated weekly with the What's New blog, polls, activities, new fan artwork, comics, and wallpapers. Shop the store to show your Penguin Pride.
Safety features allow adults to log on and view their child's account history, change his or hers password, and choose whether their child can even chat using a pre-approved word and phrase filter. An integrated timer lets parents set the time of day and duration of their child's visit.
Plus, the Coins For Change campaign uses the donations of the virtual coins kids earned playing games on Club Penguin to support the environment, children's health, or children in developing countries. It’s never too soon to teach kids to help kids. Because that’s what strong communities do, even virtual ones. BC

© Baltimore's Child Inc. September 2008