Virtual Worlds: Club Penguin

A good example of how Disney approaches collaboration with parents is Club Penguin, a snow-covered online virtual world where children can play games and hang out with friends. Disney acquired Club Penguin and its innovative approach to online virtual worlds for kids from its founders in 2007.

From its start in 2005, Club Penguin has developed a reputation as a trusted provider of safe family fun thanks to its rich, imaginative play environment, aggressive use of filtering tools, and live moderators who monitor chat and activity on the site to avert the sharing of inappropriate or personally identifiable information.

Club Penguin contains no third-party advertising and is free to use and enjoy, although a subscription membership provides access to additional features that enhance the play experience. A parent's e-mail address is required to create a penguin, and parental permission is required in order to activate an account and allow play within the virtual world. Parents can also create their own account which allows them to log on and view their child's account history, change their child's password, choose a more or less restrictive chat mode and set the time of day and duration of their child's visits to Club Penguin.

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