BeSeen

Review

Common Sense Media says

Simulated social network teaches savvy online sharing.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that BeSeen is an innovative simulation of a high school's social network that teaches kids about being safe and responsible online. Players create a profile with a gender and class year, then progress through one year of school. Players read posts by other characters and choose from options to make status updates and respond to other characters. The choices revolve around social media challenges, such as sharing locations, photos, and gossip. Choosing the better option often is rewarded with a new friend or a award like "drinking drama diverted" or "sexting scandal salved." Missed opportunities for awards are also shown, and some situations show long-term, rather than immediate consequences. The player's mom is automatically added as a friend, and she occasionally provides feedback on the player's choices. The site deals with mature issues, such as child pornography laws, bullying, and sexual predators, but the photos and language are not explicit. Kids can share their progress on Facebook, but this is optional.

  • Ease of use3
    The simulation runs smoothly, and kids will quickly learn to navigate the game, despite the menus being a bit clunky. Kids can create a profile by selecting a cartoon image and typing in their interests and activities. Subsequently, all text is provided by the game in a multiple-choice format. While some of the choices are rather obvious, some are more nuanced. The game can run at normal speed or at double or triple speed. Playing more than once is generally necessary in order to win all the awards, but doing so requires creating a new profile and shows only minimal variation. A cipher game, where kids must select three out of six characters and put them in the correct order left to right, shows no variation in difficulty.
  • Violence0
    Not applicable.
  • Sex3
    Several challenges reference sexual activity, such as kids discussing a topless photo circulating around school, but the photo is not shown. In the "protected from predator" challenge, kids can choose whether to share a photo of themselves in a somewhat scanty Halloween costume, which draws the attention of a new friend who asks for more "sexy photos" and suggests meeting for a date. (This is quickly shot down by the player's mom.)
  • Language1
    Some kids use negative language and consistently insult and bully one another, but swear words are not used, and this negative tone is discouraged by the game's challenges.
  • Consumerism0
    Not applicable.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking3
    A photo shows kids drinking beer at a party, which later leads to trouble with one of the kid's college applications. The photo sharing is thus discouraged, but the drinking itself is not addressed.
  • Privacy & safety4
    Minor privacy concerns. Kids can post their progress and results in the game on Facebook, but this is optional.
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Is it any good?

 

BESEEN is an important app and admirable in many respects. The challenges about how to respond to a friend's post are often relatively nuanced, and the length of the simulation allows kids to understand the short- and long-term impacts of their choices. The simulation does a decent job of capturing the personalities and drama of high school, with diverse characters and interests. Still, kids may feel that the clunky menus and the cheesy language make this app seem childish and repetitive, particularly when playing the game more than once. A few terms are conflated, such as characters describing sexting as online sharing, which makes the app seem out of touch. This impression is reinforced by the unchallenging and tedious cipher game. Despite these small flaws, the app (with support from teachers and parents) has a lot of potential to teach kids about navigating tricky social media situations that face high schoolers.

This review was written by Liz Panarelli

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This review was written by Liz Panarelli
Category:Education
Platforms:iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Price:Free
Size:14.80 MB
Publisher:Web Wise Kids, Inc.
Version:1.1
Release date:October 6, 2011
Minimum software requirements:iOS 4.0 or later
This review was written by Liz Panarelli
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
Our child development rating guidelines

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