Kiwibox Gets Long-Planned Makeover by Magnitude

JR — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:00:16 +0000

Teen social network Kiwibox is officially relaunching today — the culmination of a project in the works since the service was purchased by Magnitude Information Systems one year ago.

Kiwibox 2.0, as it’s being branded, features a new look along with expanded widget-enabled profiles and additional game options. The service also now offers a revamped video section and weekly magazine, both of which contain user-submitted news and celebrity reports.

“Members contribute content to Kiwibox, which goes through a collaborative editorial process before getting published to the site for the entire member base,” CEO Lin Dai told The Inquisitr, describing the configuration as “content meets social networking.”

Up next: Dai tells us Kiwibox will be getting integration tools that’ll let members interact with profiles on MySpace, Facebook, and other social network services.

Magnitude received $3 million in funding when it acquired Kiwibox last August. The social network has been around since 1999.

Our vote: The update is a significant improvement from the old, somewhat dated design carried over from before Magnitude’s purchase. The new look far more effectively showcases the service’s Web 2.0-style interactive approach and will no doubt be welcomed by Kiwibox’s young, web-savvy audience. The wealth of teen-targetted and teen-created content may be able to lure in some devoted MySpace users, particularly those in the younger teen/pre-teen years — and the closely controlled content, compared to the free-for-all alternatives, will certainly be of comfort to parents who are involved in their kids’ online activity. The upcoming social network interaction tools will only help the efforts to get MySpacers involved without forcing them to choose between the two.

Teen Virtual World Takes $11 Million

JR — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:35:13 +0000

Teen-targeted virtual world Gaia Online has secured $11 million in new funding.

The site brings in around 5 million visitors a month, leading to its recognition as the one of the most popular virtual stops for teen net users. The new cash, coming from Institutional Venture Partners, will go toward developing additional features — such as a multiplayer online game set to launch this summer.

The idea of teen virtual worlds may be the next big boom in Web 2.0 development. Users of those types of services are expected to double over the next three years to 20 million, indicating more and more competing sites may start appearing, according to research quoted by CNET.

Gaia Interactive

The Inquisitr » teen

Kiwibox Gets Long-Planned Makeover by Magnitude

Teen Virtual World Takes $11 Million