Famster: Family Social Networks - Fad or Future?

Hi Parents,

I am in the process of adding a family resource section to my blog and I thought there is no better way to kick it off than with a discussion on secure family social networks, such as www.famster.com.

Famster is an award winning social network site catering to families.  The main difference between Famster and other social networking sites, like MySpace or Facebook, is that it is secure and password protected. It also offers a host of user friendly features, such as photo share, blogging, scrapbooking, photo albums, address book, email, calendar, recipes, streaming video, family tree, RSS news feeds and more. It also differs from the major social networks in that there is a monthly subscription fee of $9.95 per family domain while most public social networking sites offer a free subscription.

With the invasion of sex offenders mulling through the public social networking sites, this new niche of secure social networks may have a following. Currently hundreds of thousand of families see the value of this type of service but is it here to stay?

Famster is partnering with socially responsible sites such as Common Sense Media, Plugged in Parent, Baby Center, and Snapshots of Heaven. I would love to hear from you if you have a Famster profile or thoughts on the viability of this type of family networking service or suggestions on how we can allow our children to safely engage online.

Julie
aka: Concerned Mom

Comments

[Hans]

Hmm... I don't know. I have not used the site but straight off the bat I can tell you I won't pay a subscription fee for a social networking site. As a user of online apps (which are all free) it would be very difficult to convince me of the value. 120 bucks a year? The money could be put to much better use in a 529 account for the kids education. Although I might give them 10 bucks a month to come up with a new name... I thought the '-ster' suffix was officially declared over used about the same time as 'spider holes' during the hunt for Saddam.

Additionally my oldest son, 7 yrs old, only uses the internet to play games on sites like lego.com and I doubt he would have much more than passing interest in a family tree or photo's etc. I use facebook to communicate occasionally with my teenage cousins in part because it's what they already use. Saying "hey... I know you like that facebook thing but you need to get on famster and talk to your grandma." Sounds like a certain conversation we have about vegetables over dinner every night.

It's an admirable try but IMHO is not destined for the big time.

[I Love Famster]

I happen to love Famster and all you get for a $9.95/mo subscription including:
• Private online networking space for your family and friends
• No advertising
• One of the easiest-to-use blogging tools
• Unlimited space for photos and videos

Through my family's Famster site, we have connected three generations of a geographically-dispersed family members and a lifetime of friends from around the globe.

That said, I think there are things Famster can do to make its site even better. That’s why I’ve launched my blog at ILoveFamster.com. Through it, I share what I think is both fabulous and frustrating about Famster. If you are a current, former, or potential Famster user, stop by and share your thoughts.

Yes, the subscription price comes to just under $120 per year, but I make that up by no longer purchasing and mailing greeting cards in December. Plus, I’m better able to keep up with my loved ones around the world because the site makes it fast, easy, and efficient to share pictures and videos of the kids, stories from our lives, and hear back from others.

P.S. I’m not compensated by Famster.