Social media for kids. Unless you have a small child you may not know that thousands of children are already online.

The Online Community Report recently interviewed Joi Podgorny - an expert in the subject of online communities. Joi's area of expertise is Tweens and Children - and she's worked the past decade building and managing safe, online communities for kids.

Unless you have a small child you may not know that thousands of children are already online. And many sites offer entertainment, education and "kid-friendly chat" to kids four and up.

Australian IT reports that virtual networking environments - aimed at kids as young as six - have swelled into serious businesses in the last year.

Sesame Street’s parent company - Sesame Workshop - has launched its newest initiative for 4- to 7-year olds: Panwapa. The project aims to promote global citizenship and community participation.

Some of the sites have been greeted positively by police, who have long worried about children finding their way to unprotected websites aimed at teens, like MySpace.

Kid-oriented sites offer parents a safer way to introduce children to the internet, says Detective Inspector Brian Ward, of the Child Abuse Investigation Command at Britain's Metropolitan Police Hi-Tech Crime Unit.

But the question remains, how do you engage this new audience in an appropriate way? Podgorny says she foresees virtual worlds as the newest generation of online community.

Have no fear - there will be a movement to capitalize on the expanding market and the watchdogs will create and enforce new policies. There are currently little or no standards for children's websites.