I'mOK Wants To Reward Kids For Communicating With Parents On Mobile Phones
By sharing their location, taking pictures, tagging friends, and telling parents what’s up, kids earn points that can be exchanged for things parents have agreed to, like allowance or special privileges. The more kids share, the more points they get.
All the communication takes place directly within the I’mOK iPhone app, which creates a private network for families. The app will also automatically tally all communications from kids. And an Android app will also be released shortly.
The company was founded by Matthew Bromberg, who was previously CEO of Major League Gaming and head of AOL Games, Moviefone, and Techweb. Other employees include Julio Miyares, ex-CTO of AOL Entertainment, and John Rabasa, who was most recently EVP, Experience Strategy for Publicis Modem USA. The startup has raised $250,000 from Bromberg, Machinima CEO Allen Debevoise and Chamath Palihapitiya, VP for Mobile and International at Facebook.
I think I’mOK’s idea has promise. As a teenager, I would have beeen much more likely to share my location and communicate with my parents, if I was somehow incentivized. The challenge, of course, will be convincing parents to actually reward kids for sharing.