Social Networks for Seven year olds

How does my own knowledge and experience of social networking affect my attitude towards my children's online activities?

I got a mixed set of replies to this tweet - some agreed, however some thought what they knew, of Facebook in particular, would make them less likely to allow their children access to social media. 12 seems to be the average age parents allow their children on Facebook, so I've some way to go with my 6 and 7 year olds - I don't have to make that decision yet! (although they do go on my Facebook account - supervised - as Farmville is too much of a temptation).

I believe I'd rather teach the children good habits than restrict access so am particularly interested in exploring appropriate social networks with my children to help them learn their way around and judge when they are socially ready to hit the big time of Facebook.

Their favourite (semi-social) sites at the moment are Moshi Monsters and Club Penguin. 

There are lots of activities and puzzles (maths, spelling etc) on Moshi Monsters (above), and the social features are the note-board where you can leave messages and the friends tree where you can add friends. The usernames are so obscure usually it's hard to tell which friends are actually people you know - very little social interaction.

Kid's social circles are a lot smaller than adults. This week, at his request, I helped Archie set up a club website for the club he plays with his friends at school (Plasma Planet). I chose Ning for this, as it is easy to set up and for him and his friends to join and use. We went for the mini option (£20/year), so basically all they can do is edit their profile, add friends and post words, pictures and videos. He is delighted. He can quite happily draw, scan and post his Plasma People and share them with his friends. 

Because the site is small I hope moderating it should not be too much work for me. All memberships are approved, and I will only approve people we know. By practising networking in this small, safe way, I hope they can learn the etiquette and potential, ready to hit whatever the social network of choice is for them in a few years time.

I do think there is a gap in the market for a Ning-like product designed for kids to have their own online clubs. It doesn't need to be a dumbed-down Ning, but simpler options, built-in parental moderation settings etc would provide something ideal for purpose.