What is the Zigazoo App?

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Watch and share short videos and have a blast learning with friends, classmates, and family!

• FIRST: watch videos made by friends and your favorite characters on an endless feed of learning fun.
• SECOND: pick fun learning prompts and respond with 0 to 30-second videos.
• THIRD: share videos and interact with friends.

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Zigazoo is the ultimate “edutainment” app, engaging students in meaningful project-based learning and challenges while entertaining them at the same time. Instead of putting your child in front of meaningless screen time or fully planning activities from scratch on busy days, let Zigazoo guide you through exciting real-world educational experiences.

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Example projects include: “Can you make a balloon-powered car?” and “Does it sink or float?” and “Can you design your own obstacle course?” and “What’s your favorite riddle?”

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Enjoy learning with your child and sharing your learning adventure during this special time of life on Zigazoo!

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Corporate website: https://www.zigazoo.com/‍

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What do parents need to know about Zigazoo?

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TechCrunch described Zigazoo as “the TikTok for kids” when it passed 100,000 video uploads in June 2020. One week after that, Zigazoo was up to almost half a million video uploads. The comparison and fast growth grabbed our attention.

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What kinds of videos are on Zigazoo?

• Videos that are uploaded answer a selected question, like ‘Can you make a parachute for a toy?’ or ‘Can you use your 5 senses to describe an item in your fridge?’
• If you click on the question, then a collection of example videos from users who opted-in to sharing publicly (designated with a green check mark; also I have not found where to opt-in so I think that these green check mark users must have been early adopters and/or app testers) will be available.
• There is a red camera button where parents can film their kids answering the question.

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Who can see the videos you add to Zigazoo?

• Only other users who you are friends with.
• Zigazoo’s goal is to create small groups of friends with a commonality, like a playgroup or classroom in order to create safe and fun ‘edutainment.’
• Kids are not meant to use the app without an adult, and the app was not created to gather up a large following like TikTok or YouTube.
• You can search for a person and send a friend request. It is up to you to approve them (similar to Facebook). You can not see another user’s videos until you are friends with them.

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How can I interact with videos? There is a heart icon to show that you like the video and a comment bubble to leave a comment.

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Children4Charity: Zigazoo launched a competition in which kids can submit videos to raise awareness for certain charities.

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Zigazoo channels: In the summer of 2020, Zigazoo will launch Zigazoo channels. They are partnering with children’s entertainment companies, museums, zoos, podcasts, libraries, etc. to add more educational content to the app.

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Is there inappropriate content on Zigazoo? None that we could find. Because the public videos shown are verified and moderated, we were unable to find any inappropriate content. However, if someone in your friend group posts something inappropriate, there is no way to block or report the video. Users can unfriend anyone in their friend list. Zigazoo added human moderators in July 2020 so that anyone can submit a video for the public feed, which the moderator will reject or approve.

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How is privacy guarded on Zigazoo? A Google account or an email are required to use the app. A user name and display can be created. There is no other information collected from the user. 

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Bottom Line: Is Zigazoo Safe for Kids?

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The contents and features of the app are appropriate for young kids. But young kids should only use this app from their parent’s device and with parent supervision. We do not believe that elementary-aged kids should have their own devices with their own apps. Not yet. One issue with the app is that it puts kids on a path – a path that has TikTok up ahead, and we just don’t need to do that too soon.

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Et si j'ai d'autres questions ? Comment puis-je me tenir au courant ?

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Deux mesures que vous pouvez prendre !

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1. Abonnez-vous à notre newsletter sur les tendances technologiques, Téléchargement PYE. Toutes les trois semaines environ, nous partagerons les nouveautés, les activités de l'équipe PYE et un message de Chris.
2. Posez vos questions dans notre communauté de parents privée appelée The Table ! Ce n'est pas un autre groupe Facebook. Pas de publicités, pas d'algorithmes, pas d'astérisques. Juste des conversations honnêtes et critiques et un apprentissage approfondi ! Pour les parents qui veulent « y aller doucement » ensemble. Devenez membre dès aujourd'hui !

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