The Chinese smartwatch that is causing problems for parents.
From Wired (paywalled - News+ link):
At what age should a kid get a smartwatch? In China, parents are buying them for children as young as 5. Adults, of course, want practical features, so they can call their kids or track their location down to a specific building floor. Children have their own reasons to clamor for the gadgets. And they’re specifically after ones made by a company called Xiaotiancai, which translates to Little Genius in English.
The watches, which launched in 2015 and cost up to $330, are a portal into an elaborate world that blends social engagement with relentless competition. Kids can use the watches to buy snacks at local shops, chat and share videos with friends, play games, and, sure, stay in touch with their families. But the main activity is accumulating as many “likes” as possible on their watch’s profile page. On the extreme end, Chinese media outlets have reported on kids who buy bots to juice their numbers, hack the watches to dox their enemies, and sometimes even find romantic partners. According to tech research firm Counterpoint Research, Little Genius accounts for nearly half of global market share for kids’ smartwatches.
Over the past decade, Little Genius has found ways to gamify nearly every measurable activity in the life of a child—playing Ping Pong, posting updates, the list goes on. Earning more experience points boosts kids to a higher level, which increases the number of likes they can send to friends. It’s a game of reciprocity—you send me likes, and I’ll return the favor. One 18-year-old recently told Chinese media that she had struggled to make friends until four years ago when a classmate invited her into a Little Genius social circle. She racked up more than 1 million likes and became a mini celebrity on the platform. She said she met all three of her boyfriends through the watch, two of whom she broke up with because they asked her to send erotic photos.
Kids need to do the things kids need to do: play outside, have unconditional friends, and not gamify every portion of their life. Have fun without having to worry whether other kids will like what you’re doing.