TotallyTween’s future in doubt

A UK-based online service aimed at girls aged between eight and 12 is reconsidering its future and has criticised social media giants for accepting underage users.

TotallyTween was launched in March last year to provide a safe online space for young girls.

Primarily a place to discuss topics such as film, music, books and TV, the site had also been in the process of branching out into original content, having linked up with UK-based children’s prodco Hoho Entertainment to develop an animation series.

The digital platform was set up by former senior VP of marketing at BBC Worldwide Clare Vincent alongside a Gina Walter, a former London Stock Exchange marketing exec.

Now, despite what Vincent and Walter describe as an “overwhelmingly positive response” from parents and content creators, the website will go dark in June as the pair reconsider the venture’s future.

The founders are particularly vexed at being forced out of the market by the likes of Facebook and Instagram because kids are meant to be aged at least 13 before they can set up an account on such sites.

“It was never our vision to try to compete with the major social networking sites, but that is unfortunately what we are faced with,” said Vincent and Walter.

“It’s worrying that social media sites state in their privacy policies that their sites are for 13-and-overs, yet we know our audience of eight- to 12-year-olds are hooked and are using them daily, and this is happening right under our noses. Who are these companies answerable to, and why are they allowed to have so much influence and power over our children?”

A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment.