The Safe Social Network App LEGO Life for Children Named Winner of International Award Honouring Excellence on the Internet
LEGO Life, the safe social network for children under the age of 13, is named Webby Winner in the Mobile Sites and Apps: Family and Kids category.
In addition to receiving this award granted through the review of an expert jury, LEGO Life also won The Webby People’s Voice Award in the same category.
“We are very happy and honoured that LEGO Life has been granted with this award – not only getting recognition by experts in the digital field but also by the public vote. It is truly a testament to the fact that it is possible to provide safe digital spaces for children in a playful and fun way”, said Rob Lowe, Head of Kids Engagement at the LEGO Group.
Since the launch of the app in January 2017, it has been downloaded more than 6 million times, and roughly one million children share content through the app every month.
The app lets children personalise their LEGO experience through direct interaction with their favourite LEGO characters, exclusive content, an in-depth 3D LEGO minifigure avatar creator, and fun building inspiration and challenges.
The app also introduces a custom Emoji Keyboard with which children and tweens can communicate about what they create in LEGO form, as well as comment on what their peers share.
“Whenever we develop digital experences, we aim to create something that complements and enhances play. With the app, we have focused on creating a platform that amplifies the joy of building and pride of creation – further unleashing creativity among children and tweens on a much broader scale. In addition to all the wonderful feedback we get from our users, this award is a lovely recognition of what we have achieved,” Lowe said.
In addition to being fun and engaging, the app is also safe. Designed to be a child’s first digital social experience, taking users by the hand and introducing them to some of the core concepts of a social network, it prevents children from sharing personal information, images, or anything that could allow users to identify and locate one another.
For example, when a user creates an account, he or she uses the random name generator to create a silly 3-word mix for a display name, such as “DukeCharmingShrimp” or “ChairmanWilyDolphin.”
In place of real or facial photos for LEGO Life profiles, users create their avatar by selecting the LEGO Minifigure or Minidoll of their choice, adding clothing, hair and more to create their virtual persona.
All content and comments on the app are monitored by LEGO employees who specialise in moderation to ensure that it is LEGO Life-appropriate and child-friendly. Use of the LEGO Emoji Keyboard replaces actual text when commenting on user-generated content.
Commenting is tightly controlled and pre-moderated while emoji comments are post-moderated, keeping communication simple, universal, positive and fun.
The LEGO Safety Pledge provides a method for parents to talk to their children about digital safety while establishing a shared commitment to ground rules for online social behaviour, and LEGO Life policies and procedures adhere to these ground rules.
Additionally, LEGO Group has an ongoing partnership with UNICEF through which the company received guidance as to how to ensure child safety in developing the app.
UNICEF and LEGO Group also partnered to develop a tool which enables companies to assess their current efforts around children’s digital safety.
The Webby Award is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), a 2000 plus member judging body.
The Academy is comprised of Executive Members (leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities), and Associate Members who are former Webby Winners, Nominees and other Internet professionals.
LEGO was a four-time winner of the World Branding Awards in the Toys category.
