Zak Ringelstein Really, Really Wants You to Zigazoo
Zak Ringelstein is that rare breed of entrepreneur who starts a company not only because they see an empty space waiting to be filled but also because they are 100% committed to an ideal. They believe that through their investment of time and money, they can better the world. Ringelstein's background is in education, and he was a co-founder of UClass, a platform for students to connect around the world. UClass was acquired by Renaissance Learning in 2015.
As parents of three young kids, Ringelstein and his wife Leah recognized the appeal of social media apps like TikTok, but they were also quite aware of the body of research that shows the psychological harm social media can inflict on children. They wanted to find a way to create an experience that was both safe and fun. So, during the middle of the pandemic, they created and launched Zigazoo Kids, a social app initially designed for kids under 13 (with parental consent required). They adhered to the highest privacy standards and implemented parameters around the ability for kids to communicate, such as limiting conversation methods with other users to pre-selected messages. Backed by organizations such as the NBA and WWE, Zigazoo Kids has taken off. In our conversation, we discuss how brands are finding effective ways to market in this environment while staying completely COPPA compliant.
Given the success of Zigazoo Kids and mindful of the turmoil surrounding TikTok, its privacy and perception issues, and the ever-growing areas in the U.S. where the TikTok app is banned, Ringelstein recently launched a second Zigazoo app geared towards Gen Z. The new app does not require parental consent and allows for direct messaging with other users but is still moderated through software.
I truly enjoyed my conversation with Zak, and I think you will as well. In fact, the conversation was so interesting and fun that it's a two-parter. So enjoy part one, and then come back next week to the Media Metaverse for the conclusion.
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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.org/MyersBizNet.
Jeff Minsky
Jeff Minsky is editor of and lead industry analyst for The Myers Report at MyersBizNet. He also writes the Village Soapbox and But Wait,That's Not All ... columns for MediaVillage. He is a multi-award-winning advertising and digital media pioneer, innova…
