BILLUND, Denmark, Jan. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on
its experience with nurturing communities and extending its
expertise in developing quality, child-friendly digital play
experiences, The LEGO Group today announced the launch of LEGO®
Life, a safe social network for kids under the age of 13. The
app-centered digital experience allows young LEGO builders of all
levels and interests to connect with a community of like-minded
peers to express their creativity, share their LEGO creations,
interact with LEGO characters, and inspire one another. The
experience launches today in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland, with additional markets launching
in 2017 and 2018.
"The LEGO Group aims to develop digital experiences that
complement and enhance LEGO play," said Rob
Lowe, head of LEGO Life. "LEGO Life creates a platform that
amplifies the joy of building and pride of creation that kids
experience with tactile play through the digital world in a safe
way – further unleashing creativity among kids and tweens on a much
broader scale."
LEGO® Life Increases the Sociability and Personalization of
LEGO Play
LEGO Life bridges physical and digital play
experiences, innovating on the best of today's social network
features to add a social layer to LEGO play. After seeing millions
of kids share their pride of creation in the "Cool Creations"
section of LEGO Club Magazine and use LEGO.com message boards to
share stories and photos about LEGO building, a richer, more
dynamic social media platform such as LEGO Life is a natural next
step in the evolution of LEGO community engagement.
"LEGO Life provides the platform where kids and tweens can take
their LEGO creations and stories and give them the audience they
deserve," added Lowe.
The LEGO Life app lets kids personalize their LEGO experience
through direct interaction with their favorite LEGO characters,
exclusive content, an in-depth 3D LEGO minifigure avatar creator,
and fun building inspiration and challenges. LEGO Life also
introduces a custom LEGO Emoji Keyboard with which kids and tweens
can communicate about what they create in LEGO form, as well as
comment on what their peers share.
"LEGO bricks are already established as a global visual language
that kids understand and use to express themselves," explained
Lowe. "The LEGO Emoji Keyboard takes this personalization one step
further with a keyboard of recognizable emojis augmented by
stickers and phrases that let kids engage safely within LEGO
Life."
According to global research that informed the development of
LEGO Life, 90 percent of kids surveyed are aware of emojis and
their use in communication. When asked if they use emoji icons,
approximately 40 percent of kids said "yes." By infusing a LEGO
look and feel into familiar emoji vernacular, the LEGO Emoji
Keyboard helps kids and tweens inspire and support each other even
though their spelling and typing skills may be still
developing.
LEGO® Life is a Constantly Growing Source of
Inspiration
Similar to mainstream social media platforms,
LEGO Life delivers a newsfeed customized to user preferences. The
app encourages kids and tweens to identify and "follow" topics of
interest so that their feed is populated with relevant images,
challenges and more. For example, kids can choose to follow groups
dedicated to certain animals, vehicles, heroes, specific LEGO
themes, seasonal programs or regional topics that they find most
relevant.
Additionally, LEGO Life provides kids and tweens with
inspiration and mentorship in fun and engaging ways. LEGO Master
Builders will share creations and issue a variety of building
challenges within LEGO Life to encourage building and sharing among
the community. Characters such as Master Wu from LEGO NINJAGO, Emma
from LEGO Friends and LEGO BATMAN™ will share building inspiration
and will appear within the app to comment on member builds. New
features will be continually added to the experience.
As the network grows and expands, users will find other ways to
customize their LEGO experience, such as earning rewards for their
engagement in LEGO activities and the ability to inventory their
LEGO collection, among many other things. LEGO Life will also be
available through many other LEGO touchpoints to enable as many
LEGO fans as possible to experience its potential.
LEGO® Life is Safe and Secure
LEGO Life is a safe
social network for kids under 13. It is 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, all through the trusted values associated with the LEGO
brand. As detailed in the Digital Safety section of LEGO Life,
participants' safety is assured in several ways.
No Personal Information
LEGO Life prevents kids 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.
Moderated Content
All content and comments on LEGO
Life are monitored by LEGO employees who specialize in moderation
to ensure that it is LEGO Life-appropriate and child-friendly. All
moderators go through brand and child safety training, and the
moderation team is located in LEGO offices around the world to
ensure quality, always-on service. 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.
Adherence to the LEGO Safety Pledge and UNICEF
Standards
The LEGO safety pledge is a method for parents to
talk to their children about digital safety while establishing a
shared commitment to ground rules for online social behavior, 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 LEGO Life. UNICEF and LEGO Group
also partnered to develop a tool which enables companies to assess
their current efforts around children's digital safety.
LEGO Life may be downloaded for free beginning today in the App
Store for iOS devices and at Google Play for Android devices.
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately
held, family-owned company with headquarters in Billund,
Denmark, and main offices in
Enfield, USA, London,
UK, Shanghai, China, and
Singapore. Founded in 1932 by
Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and based on
the iconic LEGO brick, it is one of the world's leading
manufacturers of play materials. Guided by the company spirit:
"Only the best is good enough," the company is committed to the
development of children and aims to inspire and develop the
builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO
products are sold worldwide and can be virtually explored at
www.LEGO.com.
LEGO, the LEGO logo, NINJAGO, the Minifigure, and the brick and
knob configuration are trademarks of the LEGO Group. © 2017 the
LEGO Group.
DC Universe and all related characters are elements or
trademarks of and © 2017 DC Comics.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Amanda Santoro, LEGO Systems,
Inc.
860-299-6954 / amanda.santoro@lego.com
Christopher Downing, Flashpoint
PR
415-551-9622/ downing@flashpointpr.com
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SOURCE The LEGO Group