Why do Kids' Social Networks offer huge and untapped ancillary revenue opportunities?

I read recently an article about a kid's social network, "kidsocial", where kids the ages of 6 to 13 could connect to their real world friends to play games, listen to the latest music, share photos and more. Strangers (adults) could not see the kid's pages unless authorised by the kid's parents.



This is a HUGE MARKET (& captive - think parents) where Facebook is not playing in, at the moment at least.  In Singapore alone, that's about 260,000 children between the ages of 7 years to 12 years we are talking about.


Think about the community, the associated ancillary products:

• ebooks,
• music,
• videos on mobile,
• video on demand,
• TV programs,
• education enrichment services,
• kid's customized tablets, e-readers etc,

which would be paid for by the parents of these kids.

Just like how kids nowdays pull their parents to cater to their incessant demands to buy stuff - mainly influenced by the TV,  and surfing through YouTube on the iPad, imagine what these kids social networks could build up as business lines. Holy mackeral!

But social networks like Kids Social is not new.  In Singapore, there is a company known as LittleLives who is piloting student communities in Singapore (Primary School students, i.e. 7 to 12 years old) and in selected counties in the United States as well!  More on LittleLives here.

From my previous posts, I wrote about and shared on:

1. EdTech being one of the hot trends to watch for in 2012
2. EdTech market opportunities in education enrichment
3. EdTech Market opportunities slideshare

So, what are your thoughts on the ancillary products and revenue streams from kids' social networks?

Talk soon,
Nelson Wee
Twitter: @nelsonwee

Who is spending more on Facebook Social Games?

I wrote about the growing opportunities in mobile social games, especially in Asia recently in my post "3 things you may not know about mobile social games".  Now it appears that social games in PC and in mobile from the juggernaut of Social Networks, Facebook, will be gathering its much anticipated momentum with its recent announcement.


In recent days this week, news of Facebook's collaboration with Bango (Bango integrates to operators' billing systems) has broken out. It's probably about time - given:

1. more than 800m Facebook members
2. more than 425m who are accessing Facebook mobile
3. about 30% Facebook members play the social games in Facebook (below pic from Smurfs' Village Facebook page)
4. huge opportunities awaiting further explosive growth from the emerging markets, e.g. in South East Asia where Social Networks like Facebook are accessed largely via mobile devices.

When one reads more into the consumption habits of Facebook social gamers, would you ever guess?

"while younger people are the ones spending more time on games, they are not the group with the highest propensity to purchase virtual goods. Just 10 per cent of 18-25 year olds bought virtual goods, compared to 70 per cent of those aged 45+"

The above was supported by an article in the 29th February 2012 edition of Singapore's Straits Times Digital Life section "Paying for 'free' Facebook games" where the writer, Oo Gin Lee, was scratching his head why his 48 year old sister is playing the Smurf's Village game, got hooked and started buying the smurfberries! She even invited him to join her game so that he could help water her crops!

What has your experience been like with the people around you who are playing social games?


Look forward to connect with you, 
See My Profile: Nelson Wee
Engage with me at twitter: @nelsonwee