Social media can be an unsafe place for children, potentially exposing them to upsetting imagery and making them vulnerable to predators. This is why many social networks impose an age limit to keep children off of them, but even those entering their teen years could find Facebook and Twitter to be daunting places.
Lego has aimed to prepare children for social networking by releasing their own platform entitled ‘Lego Life’. This app is designed specifically for children under the age of 13 to prepare them for social networking and gives them a place to share pictures and discuss everything Lego.
The app is very similar to Instagram in appearance, with a heavy focus on image sharing, but the comments that can be left are very limited. The strict restrictions on comments are no doubt a way of preventing inappropriate language from being used on people’s pictures.
All of the advertisements are for Lego products, plus the avatars and emojis available to users are all Lego-themed. Usernames are generated from a selection of random words to avoid offensive monikers being used.
This app is also a place that promotes creativity, with regular updates and building challenges to encourage kids to create their own Lego projects and share them online.
Lego Life is available to download for free now from the Apple App Store.