Holly Grande: Short and Sweet

This is a neat find: The FTC recently launched You Are Here, an interactive microsite designed to teach teens and tweens about advertising, the internet and social media. The site is smart, attractive and age-appropriate (although I may have learned a few things myself as I browsed the games!).

What I like best about the site is the games. They are the usual online fare, but with a clever educational twist. You can match phones with customers, design an advertisement or guess the price of different candies in a Price Is Right-like game. The games are quick to load, which is nice, but they have a sophisticated look, too.

Visitors can also "talk" to Isaac, Emily or another teenage characters and hear about different topics, like scams and online security. The language is simple, but not condescending. And, because it's presented as an interactive animation, visitors aren't overwhelmed with information and big blocks of text.

When I wrote consumer-facing materials for parents online, I delved into internet security, particularly when it comes to teenagers. Teens--who may be internet savvy--are not always internet smart. You Are Here is a site I would have loved to share with parents: it's accessible, reputable and a great resource for families. I'll definitely be sharing it with my tweenage brother and cousin.

You Are Here via Consumerist

Posted by Holly at 10:42 PM  

Labels: advertising, communication