Website Review: PixieHollow.com
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that it's hard to argue with Disney's
creativity and the magical fun that it consistently produces
for kids. But it's also hard not to pick a bone with the amount
of Disney branding and tie-ins to other Disney sites and
products on this site, which is otherwise a simple, fun place
for kids who like to dress up fairies, chat with other kids
(within a safe, preselected chat dictionary), earn badges, and
fly around looking for fun features. Be sure to read the site's
informative section for parents and the three introductory
emails sent to the parent's email address (required for kids
under 13).
Families can talk about the idea of "making friends" online.
Especially for the youngest users, consider making a rule that
no online friends are to be made, or set the tone early and
clearly that online friendships are different than real-life
ones. What does it mean to make friends with an online fairy
that belongs to a person you don't know? What does it mean if
someone turns you down when you ask them to be your friend
online? Parents, does your child agree or disagree that it's a
good idea to earn points by getting the most friends or to rank
fairies with a number of stars that everyone on the site can
see? Point out the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that Disney
uses this site to encourage kids to ask for and buy Disney
products and media.
Fairy-loving kids will find virtual-community features, two chat options, and the promise of more ways to play in the magical fairyland on Disney Fairies' PIXIEHOLLOW.COM. Young users can dress up their own fairies, name them by choosing from a list of preselected handles like "Shimmer Glamourstar" (a safer option than using a real name), and fly around looking for games to play or other fairies to chat with. The "speed chat" and "speed chat plus" options offer players some latitude in what they can write, but they also limit words to those in the approved Disney dictionary.
Overall, this is a fun site, but not without frustration for young players. There's a lot of text and blog-type entries, most of which aren't at the appropriate reading level for the youngest members of the 6-and-up age group this site is courting. Loading times are long, and games are currently few. The site's terms state that your child's Disney.com account also provides access to content at sites like ABC.com and ESPN.com, so it may be wise to explain to younger kids that they need to stay in fairyland and not wander into the land of Desperate Housewives .
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DisneyFairies.com
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
