Things I LOVE Thursday....My Secret Circle Review

A few weeks ago I signed up for The Product Review Place, it is a Ning community for bloggers interested in doing reviews. They have message boards with posts about companies looking for bloggers to review their product. In the past, I've reviewed mostly cloth diapers, but the older kids are always asking me to look for reviews they can help with. My Secret Circle jumped out at me as something that Maggie would absolutely LOVE. Maggie is 9 and started 4th grade in August. She is a total Tween. Just after school started she asked if she could have her own Facebook page. Hubby & I talked about it and decided that we were not ready for her to have access to an all ages social media site.

My Secret Circle is the perfect answer. We were sent a Best Friend pack that included two special keys, one for Maggie to keep and one for her to give to a friend. Maggie has a ton of friends and had a hard time choosing which friend to invite. In the end we picked a friend who has her own computer and who's parents were ok with her joining an online social media site. All the software is contained on the USB drive, which I really like. It is very simple to use. We insert the key into a USB slot and it instantly opens the program. The first time, we had to set up the account, but every time since it just opens Maggie's page for her. I like that there is no password to remember. As soon as Maggie's page was set up we were able to get a special access code that allowed Maggie's friend to connect with her on the site. There doesn't seem to be any limit to the number of friends in your circle, but unlike Facebook or My Space the account is totally private, people can not search for you and request to be your friend. Maggie has printed out special invitations from the site and if any of her other friends have My Secret Circle she can give them one of her invitations that has her code on it.

The site is a lot of fun for Maggie. Her favorite features are the Journal (I LOVE that it encourages her to write), the ability to IM (instant message) with her friend and the ability to send notes to her friend if she is offline. It is also nice that she can make a photo album to upload pictures and share them with her friends. When we first got this product Maggie & her friend were in the same 4th grade class, since then Maggie has been moved to a new class. This product has really helped Maggie through the transition. It is also nice that even when Maggie's friend is not available to chat with her on the site, Maggie can still enjoy other features of her page like journaling and working on her photo album.

My Secret Circle will soon be available online from their website and it is sold at Justice. Maggie & I went to our local Justice store to see if they had it in stock and were pleased to see both the single pack and the Best Friends pack. The single pack would be a perfect gift for a child who has friends who already use My Secret Circle, it sells for $19.90 ($11.94 with 40% off coupon). The Best Friends pack gives two people access and sells for $29.90($17.94 with 40% off coupon). Right now you can get 40% off on the Justice Website! This would make a GREAT Christmas gift for girls from 8 to about 14...the website says up to age 12, but honestly I don't think I will be ready for Maggie to be on a public social media website until she is in High School. My Secret Circle is NOT a subscription plan, there are no other fees, you simply buy the key & have full access.

Be sure to visit TheDiaper Diaries for more Things I LOVE Thursday.