Everloop and i-Safe bring “tween” social networking into schools

Everloop, a startup offering social networking tools aimed at users aged 8 – 13 (“tweens”), is announcing a big partnership that could bring the company to an estimated 56,000 schools.

Kids under the age of 13 aren’t allowed to join most social networks, but Everloop says it can offer social networking to younger users because it’s compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Thanks to Everloop’s features and the work of moderators, kids cannot post any personally identifiable information on the site, and cyberbullying and other inappropriate behavior is not allowed. The site is designed as a series of overlapping mini-social networks called loops, which are focused on specific interests such as art or sports.

In addition to its own site, Danville, Calif.-based Everloop offers a customizable product that allows companies to build their own social networks for tweens. Today it’s announcing a partnership with i-Safe, an organization that offers educational programs around how kids can use the Internet safely and responsibly.

“Most of the partners that we’ve been working with have been really specific to kids’ media,” said Everloop chief strategy officer Tim Donovan. “This is the first time that we’re really tied to the school environment.”

The joint product is scheduled to launch in April, and it sounds like some of the details are still being worked out — like the name of the service, for example. But it will incorporate Everloop’s social networking tools into the i-Safe educational program, and Everloop says it will represent “the largest series of school social learning networks in the United States.”

Donovan acknowledged that the exact usage will probably vary between schools depending on their “Internet footprint”, with some schools using the new service in the classroom and others making it available in afterschool programs or other optional ways.

Everloop launched last year at the DEMO conference co-produced by VentureBeat. It has raised funding from vFormation and various angel investors.