Online Pen-Pals: Website Review of StudentsOfTheWorld.Info

For students looking to expand their world-view and connect with other students around the world, StudentsOfTheWorld.info may be an excellent place to start. In an online world now filled with sites such as MySpace and Facebook, StudentsOfTheWorld.info has been around since 1995 connecting school age students from every corner of the planet. Based in France this site boasts well over 90,000 page views a day and over 250,000 registered pen-pals.

Pen-pals are at the heart of this website, allowing individuals to register and communicate safely, directly, and easily with their fellow pen-pals. The website is 100% free to join and since 2001 has begun expanding it's offerings to keep members coming back for more. as increased competition from social networking sites has left many pen-pal organizations in the dust.

The website includes various forums and chats for students and educators alike to connect. It also features various educational resources, cultural facts and information, and games. Registered users can also create and read various blogs from other registered users as well as allowing full e-mailing capabilities. Users also have to ability to connect with fellow pen-pal students through various clubs run both online and in their home countries.

Another interesting aspect of the site is how the site has grown into a database of not only users but also of all the schools from around the world that have active users on the site. One can search pen-pals and schools by country, the database will show images of the schools, along with their city/country and the number of registered users coming from each school. It also shows which blogs and clubs are associated with what schools and countries.

StudentsOfTheWorld.info was also founded by active pen-pal users ; students with a passion for connecting with friends around the world long before social networking took off. In fact the site claims that before 2001 the site's main goal was to facilitate snail mail (postal mail) pen-pal communications, the way pen-palling was meant to be. After 2001 they began adding e-mail communications, chats, blogs, and forums to bring pen-pal ling into the 21st century.

Overall the site layout is simple, colorful, and easy to navigate. There are no advertisements , adult content, or spam from what I can see. This makes the site excellent for school aged students who want to talk to fellow students around the world without all the problems of larger social networking sites. Plus by focusing on pen-pal communication and the spread of cultural education, the site is generally more educational then popular social networking sites..

It is perfect for anyone looking to get into the classic hobby of pen-palling, and especially appropriate for students who may be too young for sites like MySpace and Facebook. It is also great for any students looking to learn more about their fellow students and different cultures. Teachers and educators can also participate on the site through forums and even through a unique classified section where schools from around the world can post job openings and teachers looking for work can post resumes.

StudentsOfTheWorld.info is a decent site for students and educators and has many of the right tools to help them connect and communicate.