Updated July 3, 2014 11:25 a.m. ET
LONDON—A maker of online-games for children is going where few tech companies have dared: It is rolling out a social network for them.
Mind Candy Ltd. is the company behind "Moshi Monsters," a virtual world of cartoon characters that children can adopt and care for. The games are extremely popular in the U.K. and Australia and have done well in the U.S.
Mind Candy plans on Friday to release PopJam, a mobile app through which children can post photos, create and share drawings, and follow certain topics or brands.
Company founder
Michael Acton Smith,
whose success with "Moshi Monsters" has made him one of Britain's best-known tech entrepreneurs, is betting that the new platform can capture a largely untapped social-network subscriber base: children between the ages of 7 and 12.
So far, that market has been limited to a few networks dedicated to games or highly controlled chat services, such as
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's Club Penguin. Children under 13 are barred from many adult networks, including that of
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Many join anyway by using their parents' accounts or lying about their ages.
Other companies have attempted children-focused social networks. U.S.-based Yoursphere Media Inc. hopes to attract one million members to its children's network.
Facebook has explored opening up to tweens, children between 10 and 12. But underscoring the risks and challenges of such a venture, founder
Mark Zuckerberg
described allowing children as a "fight we take on at some point." That was three years ago.
Setting up a social network for children is tough, in part because of the difficulty—and expense—of policing online environments and complying with laws meant to protect children. Critics worry about security and creating an overly commercialized space for children. In Canada, the U.S. and many other countries, television advertising aimed at children is heavily regulated, a hurdle that PopJam might face.
Mind Candy executives said they would attempt to remove personal information, such as last names or addresses, and keep an eye out for bullying and child predators. To protect privacy, so-called selfies aren't allowed, unless features are obscured with virtual stickers, such as sunglasses.
Mind Candy has delayed its U.S. release until it can determine how to comply with federal online-privacy laws for children without making its app too burdensome. The company said its app collects little personal information about children—just their ages and usernames—which aids compliance with regulations on privacy and data security.
"We just think this is one of the biggest opportunities out there at the moment," said Mr. Smith, the 10-year-old company's chief executive. "You can imagine all the different brands and partners in the world that might want to connect with a kids' audience, from movie studios launching new films to toy companies."
Mr. Smith, 39 years old, is hoping that many of the 85 million users with accounts on "Moshi Monsters" will hop over to PopJam then spread the word on the playground. The company plans to cross-promote the network on its current products.
PopJam feels like a mashup of networks such as Pinterest, which lets users create and follow interest-based virtual bulletin boards, and Facebook's photo-sharing app Instagram. Children will be able to draw and share content, comment on other users' posts and enter contests that offer winners prominent placement on the network—a chance for their artwork to be seen by a wide audience.
"You'd show them off at school and on your fridge," Mr. Smith said. "Now you can show them off to millions of kids around the world."
Mind Candy is rolling out PopJam only in the U.K. for now. The app will be available free from
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's app store. A version for
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's Android operating system is planned.
Mr. Smith said he hadn't decided whether PopJam would charge subscription fees as "Moshi Monsters" does or have advertisers pay for promoted content. He said he envisioned that the service would allow children to choose whether to follow certain brands and that advertising would be conceptually no different than what is shown on television. He said that at first, PopJam won't focus heavily on getting brands on board.
Caroline Knorr,
parenting editor for Common Sense Media, a children's advocacy group, said the network sounded safe and promising. But she said she would worry about the insertion of branded content in the children's creative world. "We believe that kids shouldn't grow up in a highly branded world where advertising is just constantly being shoved down their throats," she said.
Write to Lisa Fleisher at lisa.fleisher@wsj.com
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