In a change of pace for Senator Conroy, who after dodging bullets from the anti-censor and anti-filter crowd over his plan to filter Australia's internet, is now putting his name towards a new web enterprise. Fortunately, it's for a good cause.
A new social networking style site called Livewire has been launched in conjunction with the Federal government and the Starlight foundation. It gives disabled and seriously ill young people a chance to engage in a safe and secure web environment.
Livewire is an online community designed for young people aged 10 - 21 years of age, who are living with a chronic illness or disability. There are estimated to be over 450,000 young people living with such a health condition in Australia.
In association with the Starlight foundation, the website hopes to remove the feelings of isolation that can be associated with young people who live with a chronic health condition. It aims to help them find social support and empowerment amongst their peers with similar experiences.
It's like Facebook or Myspace for sick kids, but without the fake names and random friend requests.
While the Livewire site aims to be a hip portal for kid-friendly multimedia/news content, we found in reality it's a little thin on content for now. In our opinion, it might be hard for mums and dads to sway their kids away from the popular social networking sites such as MySpace, regardless of the good intentions, but time will tell.
The Australian Government invested $7.2 million into Livewire from its Clever Networks program, which is part of the $118.6 plan to expand broadband and infrastructure to regional and remote areas of Australia.
Livewire operates under a series of strict safety measures that would put any social networking site to shame. For every young person who joins the website, parents or guardians are contacted personally to verify their identity before joining. Chat hosts are also trained by the Federal police to moderate discussions.
We imagine that the day sites such as Myspace or Facebook start contacting members for proof of their real identity is the day 4000 faux Madonnas and 62 Mick Jagger's fess up.
