I sometimes think that social networking is wasted on the wrong demographics. Every teen and young adult lives in a Facebook networking haze, and professional types are hooked on Twitter, Quora, and Tumblr. But what about the moppet set (ages 7 -12)–they are natural networkers making best-friends-forever by the nanosecond? Skanz, a startup that has reimagined the business card as QR-coded contact pages, has just stepped in and launched a similar disruption for show-and-tell.
In time for the holidays, SkanzJr’s coded bracelets let tweens quickly exchange favorite foods, videos, TV shows, sports teams, actors, and other preferences that loom large in the minds of children (and some adults as well).
Sharing this-or-that with SkanzJr
All that’s needed is a smartphone (Android, iPhone, Blackberry, or iPod), which most kids have anyway, to scan codes of those in their play-date cohort.
As with the adult version, preference information and mobile device home page layout is configured using the Skanz web site. For the record, in demoing SkanzJr my account indicates a like of waffles, thin-crust pizzas, and Dr. Who (the original).
Children’s identity is protected on the site–no personal information is revealed–and part of the registration process requires a parent’s email so annoying authority figures can be notified when the account is registered and updates are made for new features.
SkanzJr bands retail for $9.99 and can be found at Lesters, Denny’s, Learning Express, and also online.