Disney Company Starts Social Network

Some would say there are a touch too many social networks planted throughout the “tubes” of our planet. Some would be right. But there are a few networks that serve particular purposes and do a good job of catering to their target demographic. So there’s reason to ask if, among the MySpaces and the MOGs, there exists a network friendly to the many children who’ve grown up connected to the Web from their earliest days of coherence? If one has been established, I myself have yet to hear word of it.

Well, until now, that is. Lately, one big media giant has been thinking about the lil’ ones of the world when it comes to getting socially networked. The Walt Disney Company, the group responsible for Sleep, Grumpy, Winnie, and Mickey, intends to attract kids (as well as adults’ inner children) to maintain their own personal pages on a site that’s rich in media, glitter – and security. Complete with parental controls, the site, given the name Disney Xtreme Digital, or Disney XD, aims to offer a wholesome, entertaining experience (Walt Disney believes the average age of members should be 14 and younger) to young’uns still navigating their way through an elementary education.

Heavy on games, video clips (movie trailers, etc.), and music, Disney XD is clearly a busy, bubbly network that doubles as a busy, bubbly promotional venue for the company. But anything branded with the Disney label fits these parameters nonetheless, so perhaps we shouldn’t judge too harshly. My first impression of the beta is that it’s incredibly effective at pulling one into its various widgets and categories. Some may not agree with that, of course, but if you’re used to the horrendous amalgam that is MySpace or think the myriad of other popular networks on the Web are low on the “wow” factor, Disney XD will certainly open your eyes a little wider. Whether it’s for better or for worse is entirely subjective, so you yourself will need to be the judge of that.

On the whole, Disney XD is good for what it is, a place for Disney fans and young minds to start their first personal web spaces to share with friends, and even family. It won’t see its popularity skyrocket in the next few months, but if news of its existence travels the right roads, Disney will establish a healthy supply of users whose elders can be assured will not encounter anything “troubling”. No “True Intimate Dating” ads or incredibly frustrating “Free iPod” ads which regularly drive viewers to madness. We can’t have mad children roaming the Web now, can we? They’ll spill juice in our tubes. Who wants that?