Featured Movable Type Site: National Geographic Kid's Blogs

Kid-Safe Blogs that Parents Can Trust

For more than three decades, National Geographic has reached out to kids in innovative ways through television and print with nature, sports and adventure-related content designed to inspire and motivate. Now the company has launched several kids blogs to engage with their young audiences online. The National Geographic Kids blog network includes DogEared Books, Global Bros, You Are Here, and Hands On Explorer, all of which are built in Movable Type. The majority of the blog posts are authored by real kids who blog about their adventures, and the voices of their peers have resonated with young readers.

“The mission of National Geographic Kids is to inspire kids to care about the planet, including all the people, places and animals in it,” says Michelle Sullivan, Executive Producer of National Geographic Digital Media, Kids. “The NG Kid's blogs are natural extension of that, because they bring the world right into their laps... or in this case, laptops!”

The editorial team finds most of its kid bloggers by reaching out to their own extended network of employees, colleagues and friends. The kids are then contracted to become bloggers and agree to an editorial schedule; a team of online editors reviews and posts content. “It seems so much more credible when it's a kid-to-kid conversation,” Sullivan explains. “That's what really make us unique and differentiates us from other kids' sites.

The editors review the content before they post it, but they’re careful not to use a heavy hand in the editing process. “Authenticity is important to us, says Sullivan.  “We want it the blog posts to sound like the kids who wrote them, not like polished pieces written by an adult.”

Thus far, the process has worked wonderfully. “The kids are so excited to have a "voice",” Sullivan reports. “They love sharing their stories and opinions. It's really empowering.”

MT Enables Compliance with Legal Requirements

Creating websites for kids is more complicated than it seems. “There are a lot of legal and technical requirements involved in creating a blog for kids,” producer Anton Gelman explains. All National Geographic Kids content is COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act)-compliant, meaning that the site does not solicit or store any personal information without parental notification or verification. All ads that appear on the sites abide by COPPA, and also follow the suggested CARU (Children’s Advertising Review Unit) guidelines for advertisers. “Movable Type made it easy for us to add custom fields and rules that allow us to comply with all regulations related to having a kid’s site,” says Technical Lead Anton Gelman.

Comments have to be monitored to ensure that they meet strict content guidelines before they’re published; with the RSS subscription feature in Movable Type, producers can subscribe to the comments and approve them from anywhere, thus simplifying the process. “We make extra efforts to keep our community secure and give moms and dads peace of mind that their kids are in a safe online space,” explains Michelle Sullivan.

National Geographic enlisted Seattle-based Textura Design, Inc. and San Francisco development consultancy Endevver to build out the sites. They used Movable Type’s flexible comment moderation tools to enable editors to review and publish comments from multiple interfaces - inside the application, via email or mobile device. “The Movable Type software has made it easy for our team to manage and publish content,” Sullivan says. “We really love it.”

The company is committed to expanding its digital presence in the future, with plans for additional blogs, more exciting content, and new ways to engage its readers. “This is a generation of digital explorers,” says Sullivan. “They've grown up with technology and the Web is a central focus for them. We have a great opportunity to reach this young audience and help build loyalty to National Geographic and its mission.”

National Geographic Kid's Blogs Built in Movable Type

DogEared Books
DogEared Books is community for young readers and the books they love. The blog features seven kids ages 8-12 who blog their thoughts about the books they’re reading. “Kids love giving their feedback on the books,” says Michelle Sullivan. “The blog gives them a place where they can be heard, and where their opinion matters.”

Global Bros
The Global Bros blog follows the adventures of two “cool brothers” - 11-year-old Stefan and 8-year-old Tyler - who are having the enviable experience of traveling around the globe with their parents for an entire year. The boys post photos, stories and videos from wherever they are - from Germany to Japan - and kids everywhere can follow along at home.

You Are Here 
The “You Are Here” blog shines a spotlight on bloggers in different countries; last year, it was written by 12-year-old David, a blogger who lives in Beijing and blogged about his visits to the Olympic Games and what it is like to live in China. Currently, the blog is being authored by 10-year-old Ayat, who lives in Jordan and blogs about Middle East geography, her family traditions, and trips to nearby Petra and the Dead Sea.

Hands On Explorer
The Hands on Explorer blog tracks the adventures of National Geographic Kids’ Hands-On Explorer Challenge contest expedition team on their worldwide adventures. Australia with the destination in 2008; in 2009, the team will take a 12-day trip to Peru. The team will be made up of 15 kid contest winners and two teachers who will travel to Peru together to learn about the culture, people and history of this ancient civilization.