Two Teen-Oriented Blog Networks Merge: Can They Compete With Blogspot?
Teens in Tech and Youth Blogger Networks, two blogging networks aimed at teens, are joining forces, the companies announced today. Teens in Tech lets teenagers set up blogs, while Youth Blogger Networks makes it easy for young bloggers to share ideas. Both networks are small (Youth Blogger Networks has 134 members while Teens in Tech is still in private alpha) so together the two sites should have more clout.
Despite their size, the sites already have strong teen cred — Teens in Tech is run by 16-year-old Daniel Brusilovsky, while Youth Blogger Networks is managed by 15-year-old Patrick DeVivo. It’s still not clear, though, why teens should use the two networks instead of services also used by adults. In a post, DeVivo acknowledges that point. “We understand that teen bloggers already use social networks such as Twitter to communicate, and that is why we want to push YBN towards becoming a full-out social network for teen bloggers. By joining the TinT network, this vision can now become possible.”
This is very interesting. If they can implement Facebook and Twitter really well, this could turn out to be something more than decent. But being ran by a 16 and a 15 year old does leave little room for error. Interesting stuff though, nonetheless.
This is where branding is going to come in. The just for teens niche is going to be the emerging market as you can see a 15 and 16 year old are calling the shots in this business venture. There will be more and more teens searching for sites and ventures just like this one.