BBC's virtual world for kids

As widely reported, the BBC is jumping on the social-networking bandwagon (see Reuters), and this week there's news of the first example. CBBC, the BBC for 7-to-12-year-olds, is joining the likes of Whyville.net and ClubPenguin.com in opening a virtual world for young people, the BBC reports. CBBC says it'll be like Second Life without chat, virtual money or ecommerce, or the ability to build new islands or other user-generated real estate. But kids will be able to create their own avatars, or online characters, interact with each other's avatars, and "create and share content." The CBBC expects to launch the online role-playing game or world this summer.