Everloop: Difference between revisions

Everloop
Type of business	Private
Founded	February 2011
Headquarters	San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Area served	United States
Industry	Social media
URL	http://www.everloop.com

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Revision as of 21:16, 9 July 2012

Overview

Everloop is an online social media site^[1] for kids under 13 to connect with friends, play games, discover new talents, create and have fun in a safer environment. Created specifically for kids, Everloop provides a free, moderated and age-appropriate online space for their digital activities. Loops are a central feature to the site. They are small communities created around interests in such categories as music, sports, hobbies, movies, nature, story writing, photo sharing and photo editing. Everloop’s patent-pending technology allows kids to start loops of their own or join loops that match their interests. Additionally, in June 2011 Everloop launched EverText^[2], the first ever moderated texting feature approved for kids. Everloop also announced Goobit^[3], the first social mobile app for kids launching Summer 2012.

History

Everloop was founded by three professional businesswomen with kids, Hilary DeCesare, Kim Bruce and Paige McCullough^[4]. They were concerned their children were feeling pressure to lie about their ages and join social media sites intended for older users. They wanted to create a site with the sole purpose of providing a safe, robust, engaging digital home base specifically for kids and tweens.

Originally launched for girls under the name “Girl Ambition,”^[5] the site was revamped for both girls and boys and relaunched in February 2011 under the name Everloop.com. Its co-founders brought in a team of experts in technology, social networks, entertainment and children's education and development to create an engaging, innovative site for kids.

Everloop’s breadth of content supports development of core skills including creativity, collaboration and communication and encourages exploration around diverse areas to develop the whole child, including social responsibility^[6].

Within its first year of launch, Everloop.com became the leading social site for kids under 13 and received multiple consumer, technology and innovation awards. Everloop CEO Hilary DeCesare^[7] is a recognized child and digital parenting expert. She was invited to the White House’s anti-bully conference in 2011 and often appears in the media and on the lecture circuit regarding kids’ digital behavior, safety and trends.

Concerned with the fact that a singular digital mistake can last a lifetime, Everloop employs safety and moderation tools to provide kids with a place to create, collaborate, communicate and become responsible digital citizens.

Privacy and Safety

COPPA and Moderation

Everloop was created specifically for kids, so safety has always been the top priority. Everloop was created adhering to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) standards and uses state-of-the-art privacy protection and monitoring technology to guard young users against bullying, bad language and inappropriate sharing of information. Everloop's safety features include parent authentication to join, 24/7 leading edge moderation technology including thorough word and phrase filters, top-of-the-line live staff for moderation and customer support, well-trained behavior monitoring technology, and community user reporting for suspicious or inappropriate behavior.

Parents

Everloop organizes the child's digital world: creative activities, e-mail, chat, games and more are all in one place. Parents can decide the level of independence each child has and which features they have access to with the click of a button. Notifications keep parents updated on account activity, so they stay connected to their child’s interests and have peace of mind. The site permits parents to monitor all friend requests and communication, but does not allow any parental posts to children's profile pages. The site does not yet have email for parents but is scheduled to come out by the end of summer 2012.

Digital Training Ground

The moderated social network, meant for children under the age of 13, prevents kids from posting profanity, engaging in cyberbullying or conducting other inappropriate behavior. Rather than simply deleting such posts, Everloop stops the child from posting and provides immediate feedback to correct inappropriate behavior. The result is guiding children on appropriate online social behavior and preparing them for the open Internet.^[8]

Management

Hilary DeCesare – Co-Founder and CEO
Kim Bruce – Co-Founder and Vice President Partnerships
Paige McCullough – Co-Founder and Vice President Content Production
Sandy Barger – Chief Marketing Officer
Jon Morse – Vice President, Product Development
Gretchen Krugler – Chief Finance Officer
Sue Burger – VP of Operations

Logo

Everloop.com is easily identified by it’s unique logo. The logo was created to take on different graphic representations while maintaining its brand identity.

Reception

Comparison to Facebook

Facebook requires users to provide a birthdate upon sign-up, but there is no process in place to verify those dates are accurate. Once on the site, users are in a completely un-moderated environment where pseudonyms are common and identities can be easily fabricated. One estimate suggests that more than seven million under-age kids are Facebook members^[9]. Everloop requires that every kid account is associated with a parent account. Parents cannot post to kid pages; in fact, grown-ups are blocked entirely. Parents do have oversight of their kids’ online activity on Everloop and choose which features to allow.^[10]

Everloop is structured differently from Facebook^[11] by keeping the focus on activities and kids’ interests within topic “loops.” These can be based on anything, from entertainment (think Justin Bieber and Twilight) to sports and animals. Content provided by Everloop’s brand partners includes free digital books and games to play from National Geographic, Mattel, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, and others.

In addition – and key to Everloop’s value proposition to parents – is its ability to teach children about what is appropriate on social networking services^[12]. If a child posts using swear words, attempts cyberbullying, or engages in any other inappropriate behavior, Everloop doesn’t allow the content to be posted and tells the child why.

“Kids might find such features more exciting than Facebook's adult-oriented games, which could strengthen Everloop's user base and ultimately ensure its success in the online world. And, given the site's strict privacy and safety controls, parents may eagerly support kids who express interest in creating Everloop profiles, creating a generation of kids raised with some basic social networking practice, who will be better skilled at navigating the increasingly digitized communication future that is ahead of them.”^[13]

Awards

AlwaysOn Global 250 in 2010^[14] & 2011^[15]
AlwaysOn OnHollywood 100 in 2010^[16]
DemoGod - Best in Class Social Media 2010^[17]
Global Entrepreneurship 50 Winner 2010^[18]
Pii Showcase Winner 2011^[19]
Edison Award - Visual Communication Finalist 2012^[20]
Parents Choice Award Winner 2012^[21]
Speaker at the White House anti-bullying summit 2011^[22]

Everloop Products and Features

Evertext

EverText is the first SMS integration^[23] offered by a social community platform that is compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Utilizing sophisticated privacy protection technologies, Everloop’s real-time moderated text messaging enables kids to securely use mobile devices to broadcast updates to friends’ profiles or directly to their cell phones. ^[24]

Everloop Goobit Mobil App

The “Everloop Goobit” app will translate the desktop experience to both iOS (iPhone & iPod Touch) and Android devices. Everloop’s mobile app comes at a time when more than half of all children have access to a mobile device^[25], which immediately raises safety concerns. The app will help ensure that Everloop kids have a safer social option to connect with their friends and interests. They can communicate with groups of classmates during the summer, friends they meet at camp or on a sports loop via their mobile phones with the same level of peace of mind they receive using Everloop from their home computers. The free mobile app will give kids on-the-go access to Everloop’s features anytime, anyplace and anywhere, and will include Everloop’s very popular “Goob” (harmless digital pranks) feature.

Evergive

EverGive^[26] is a program that supports nonprofits benefiting kids around the world. The program signifies Everloop’s shared commitment to giving back and is designed to help kids make a difference by supporting highlighted nonprofits on a quarterly basis. Beneficiaries have included Pencils of Promise and The Max Cure Foundation.

On Sunday, July 8, Everloop CEO Hilary DeCesare was featured on ABC's hit show Secret Millionaire^[27]^[28]^[29]. Hilary was sent to Long Beach, Calif. and spent the week undercover, working as a volunteer with three local charities that benefit kids in the greater Long Beach area: Love in the Mirror, New Hope Grief Support Community and Shoestring City Ranch. Hilary donated over $100,000 to these three charities and each is now featured on the Everloop site.^[30]

Features

Loops
- Everloop’s patent-pending technology is based around friendships and shared interests such as sports, crafts, music and fan groups. Kids can join existing loops or start loops of their own, but parents can still choose to approve each loop their child joins.
Goob
- A Goob is a goofy, harmless, virtual prank that kids can play on each others' profiles. Examples of Goobs include a virtual pie being thrown at a friend’s screen or virtually toilet papering a friends' profile page. They let a user throw food or squash bugs on the screen. Another features a puppy that throws up on the screen and licks it clean.
Games
- The Everloop Arcade offers more than 1,500 games and includes partnerships with major game platforms such as MiniClip and Mochi Games. Categories of games include Boys, Girls, Fashion, Sports, Educational, Flash and various holidays.
Evercredits
- Kids can earn or buy “Evercredits” which allow them to buy items from Everloop’s virtual store. Items include Goobs, apps, backgrounds and premium stickers. Evercredits are earned through participation in the Everloop community or accounts can be funded through secure credit card transactions approved by parents.
Custom Profiles
- Kids can create and customize their profiles and loops on Everloop with different backgrounds, colors and stickers.
Digital Parenting Advice
- In addition to providing a safe home base for kids, Everloop works with parents on raising kids in the digital age. Everloop’s site contains information, tips and news for parents on raising responsible digital citizens. Everloop CEO Hilary DeCesare is a recognized digital child and parenting expert reaching out to parents through articles, blogs and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Format Agnostic
- Everloop is screen ubiquitous and works across multiple platforms including computers, mobile and tablets.
Apps
- Apps on the site let kids perform activities around their interests including video, photo and music.

Funding

The company closed a seed round of $3.1 million^[31] in 2011 backed by vFormation, Silicon Valley based Band of Angels, Envoi Ventures, Richard Chino formerly of Overture, Wayne Goodrich of Apple, Deena Burnett-Bailey of Angels of Hope and additional investors. Everloop is in the process of raising its Series A.

References

External Links

[1] ttp://www.everloop.com/pub/index.php/about/

[2] ttp://www.scribbal.com/2011/10/everloop-launches-evertext-moderated-sms-feature/

[3] ttp://finance.yahoo.com/news/everloop-com-introduces-first-mobile-204700735.html

[4] ttp://trendmag2.trendoffset.com/publication/?i=73723&p=98

[5] ttp://www.centernetworks.com/girl-ambition-hilary-decesare/

[6] ttp://ad-tech.blogs.imediaconnection.com/2011/08/19/start-up-watch-cod-everloop-is-out-to-make-social-remarkably-safe-for-kids

[7] ttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/angie-chang/hilary-decesare_b_999430.html

[8] ttp://www.socialnerdia.com/blog/2011/6/1/everloop-co-founder-ceo-hilary-decesare-talks-about-tween-so.html

[9] ttp://pressroom.consumerreports.org/pressroom/2011/05/cr-survey-75-million-facebook-users-are-under-the-age-of-13-violating-the-sites-terms-.html

[10] [http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20807548/magid-safe-and-fun-places-kids-online

[11] ttp://danville.patch.com/topics/Everloop

[12] ttp://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/06/everloop-offers-safe-online-environment-for-tweens

[13] ttp://www.mobiledia.com/news/147352.html

[14] ttp://alwayson.goingon.com/AOStory/Announcing-2010-AlwaysOn-Global-250

[15] ttp://www.aonetwork.com/AOStory/Announcing-2011-AlwaysOn-Global-250

[16] ttp://www.aonetwork.com/AOStory/Announcing-2010-OnHollywood-100

[17] ttp://mashable.com/2010/03/23/demo-god-awards/

[18] ttp://startupopen.com/gew50/profiles-from-2010/

[19] ttp://pii.blog.lunaweb.net/previous-events/pi2010-silicon-valley/innovator-spotlight

[20] ttp://www.edisonawards.com/2012Finalists.php

[21] ttp://www.parents-choice.org/award.cfm?thePage=website&p_code=p_web

[22] ttp://blog.everloop.com/?p=708

[23] ttp://techcrunch.com/2012/06/06/kid-friendly-social-network-everloop-is-coming-to-iphone-raising-series-a

[24] ttp://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_kids_social_network_everloop_developed_a_247_moderated_sms_feature.php

[25] ttp://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/zero-eight-childrens-media-use-america/key-finding-1%3A-young-children-use-digital-media-frequently

[26] ttp://www.everloop.com/pub/index.php/evergive/

[27] ttp://www.gazettes.com/lifestyle/abc-s-secret-millionaire-surprises-new-hope-grief-support/article_a38e22ae-c6c1-11e1-92b3-0019bb2963f4.html

[28] ttp://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/hollywood_wrap&id=8727814

[29] ttp://www.lbpost.com/business/2000000608-local-charity-with-9-year-old-ceo-to-be-featured-on-secret-millionaire

[30] ttp://sanramon.patch.com/articles/danville-resident-and-ceo-to-appear-on-abc-s-secret-millionaire-sunday-night

[31] ttp://www.siliconvalleywire.com/svw/2011/06/san-francisco-based-everloop-raises-31-million-in-seed-funding.html

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@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 The “Everloop Goobit” app will translate the desktop experience to both iOS (iPhone & iPod Touch) and Android devices. Everloop’s mobile app comes at a time when more than half of all children have access to a mobile device<ref>http://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/zero-eight-childrens-media-use-america/key-finding-1%3A-young-children-use-digital-media-frequently</ref>, which immediately raises safety concerns. The app will help ensure that Everloop kids have a safer social option to connect with their friends and interests.  They can communicate with groups of classmates during the summer, friends they meet at camp or on a sports loop via their mobile phones with the same level of peace of mind they receive using Everloop from their home computers. The free mobile app will give kids on-the-go access to Everloop’s features anytime, anyplace and anywhere, and will include Everloop’s very popular “Goob” (harmless digital pranks) feature.
 ===Evergive===
-EverGive is a program that supports nonprofits benefiting kids around the world. The program signifies Everloop’s shared commitment to giving back and is designed to help kids make a difference by supporting highlighted nonprofits on a quarterly basis. Beneficiaries have included [[Pencils of Promise]] and The Max Cure Foundation.
+EverGive<ref>http://www.everloop.com/pub/index.php/evergive/</ref> is a program that supports nonprofits benefiting kids around the world. The program signifies Everloop’s shared commitment to giving back and is designed to help kids make a difference by supporting highlighted nonprofits on a quarterly basis. Beneficiaries have included [[Pencils of Promise]] and The Max Cure Foundation.
+On Sunday, July 8, Everloop CEO Hilary DeCesare was featured on ABC's hit show Secret Millionaire<ref>http://www.gazettes.com/lifestyle/abc-s-secret-millionaire-surprises-new-hope-grief-support/article_a38e22ae-c6c1-11e1-92b3-0019bb2963f4.html</ref><ref>http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/hollywood_wrap&id=8727814</ref><ref>http://www.lbpost.com/business/2000000608-local-charity-with-9-year-old-ceo-to-be-featured-on-secret-millionaire</ref>. Hilary was sent to Long Beach, Calif. and spent the week undercover, working as a volunteer with three local charities that benefit kids in the greater Long Beach area: [http://www.loveinthemirror.org Love in the Mirror], [http://www.newhopegrief.org New Hope Grief Support Community] and [http://www.shoestringcityranch.org Shoestring City Ranch]. Hilary donated over $100,000 to these three charities and each is now featured on the Everloop site.<ref>http://sanramon.patch.com/articles/danville-resident-and-ceo-to-appear-on-abc-s-secret-millionaire-sunday-night</ref>
 ===Features===
 *Loops