Social networking, photo sharing, and other Web 2.0 innovations have lots of applications for family fun. Web 2.0 is about individual expression and interaction with your personal network and beyond. Explore the new Web to find ways to add more creativity and fun to your family computer experience. Start with these ideas by signing up and giving them a try. They will stimulate your own creative uses for the new tools of Web 2.0.
- Connect with your extended family. Use Family 2.0 Amiglia.com or Famster to create a family networking site. As in all social networking sites, you can share photos, keep up with birthdays, plan events, form groups, play games, and connect with others.
- Let your kids play with online social networks. The family favorite in this group is Imbeebecause it resembles teen and adult social networking sites, but is designed with safety features for kids ages 8-14. Imbee's safety features include user authentication, parental controls, and a privacy wall so that content is not visible on the Internet. Kids and parents can join groups, share pictures, write blogs, listen to music, send messages, and earn points.
- Customize your home page. This isn't a new idea, but today's technology makes it easier and even more useful. I tried both Netvibes and iGoogle and now use Netvibes for my personal reading and iGoogle for a colorful family-friendly start page. Make Tabs for homework help or travel planning, or anything that you want to access quickly. Also find these features with Pageflakes, and My Yahoo.
- Read and share reviews. I always read the reviews when I am browsing at Amazon because they give me more insight on whether a book or product is right for me. The reviews at NetFlix have led me to several great movies that I would never have picked out at a video store. With Yelp, you can read and share reviews on businesses, restaurants, and much more in your local area. An even more family-friendly resource with local reviews and recommendations is GoCityKids. If you live in a major U.S. city or plan to travel to one, you'll love the deep information for local family fun from GoCityKids.
- Play with your pictures. With Smilebox, use your digital photos to make a slideshow, photo album, greeting card or scrapbook; and then, email it or post it online. The basic service is free and includes lots of great designs. Also watch for the relaunch of Scrapblogwith new features and drag-n-drop functionality. Make cute family newsletters withLetterpop, also free. They have several great templates and it's as easy as drag and drop with photos from your hard drive or your flikr account. Speaking of flikr, it's an easy way to store your favorite photos, and you can keep them private, share with family and friends, or share with the world. More ideas to play with your photos are found at dumprand fd's Flikr Toys, where you can do lots of silly things with your flikr photos or the photos on your computer. Our favorite tool at dumpr is to make a sketch from a photo and print it out as a coloring page.
- Make an online cookbook. Follow the instructions from Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes to create your own del.icio.us cookbook. As you tag your recipes, you can follow the tags on del.icio.us to find an incredible source of great new recipes. If you haven't played withdel.icio.us, read this How To from About Web Search to learn what you can do with social bookmarking.
- Make a personal Google map. You can think of lots of uses for Google Maps orWayfaring, where you create your own labeled Google maps. Plan a trip, use it for a map-learning activity, share your favorite places with a friend or visitor to your town. If you're a Google map lover, which we definitely are, this will be a blast for your family.
- Visit a virtual world. Second Life is not for kids, but new sites are opening for safe play in a virtual world. In virtual worlds, kids can play games and interact with other kids who are online. For little kids, check out Webkinz. Here's how it works: purchase a Ganz Webkinz or Lil'Kinz plush toy at your local retailer, or online; and then, use the code number that comes with the toy to enter the online world and play with your virtual pet. It looks like lots of fun. Other kid-friendly virtual worlds include Club Penguin andNicktropolis.
Web 2.0 Sites to Visit
