Sun Herald from Biloxi, Mississippi • M18

App review 18 Friday, February 19, 2016 www.sunherald.com By PATRICIA MONTICELLO KIEVLAN Common Sense Media Parents need to know that musi- cal.ly your music video commu- nity is a social network for sharing user-generated music videos similar to Dubsmash. You can upload your own vid- eos, remix work, or browse content created by other users and by more famous recording artists. Because it involves popular music, lots of swearing and sex- ual content in the songs, though the videos seen during the review process only contained some tight and revealing clothing. Because teens can select whether to share their videos with their friends or the general public, want to adjust their settings accordingly. Read the privacy policy to find out about the types of infor- mation collected and shared.

it about? Musical.ly is a lively social net- work built around creating, shar- ing, and searching for user-creat- ed music videos called as enthusiastic users of the site call themselves can upload videos of themselves sing- ing, lip-synching, or dancing. Some also use it like Vine and post short videos that involve music at all. Ongoing challenges spur users to create content related to a par- ticular theme (such as the Judge and they can use a feature to create a video that features their own vid- eo integrated with another mus- submission. Once musers submit videos, they can choose to keep their vid- eos private or share them public- ly. If you do share your video, you can expect to have it viewed, com- mented upon, or remixed by other users.

Musers can access and re- mix some professional work, too; keep in mind that ac- cessing those pages will likely re- sult in kids being marketed to di- rectly by those artists. Is it any good? The idea behind this musical so- cial network is great, but the fea- tures are sometimes buggy, and teens should adjust the privacy settings before using. With cool features for searching for content, sharing your own videos, and re- mixing work from other musers, terrific potential here for an exciting, creative space for mak- ing music. That being said, the system always work as well as it should. Though there are frequent app up- dates, sometimes core features for watching or recording can be a lit- tle buggy and unstable.

Also, no tutorial in the app, so some users might have trouble jumping in. Of course, because all about popu- lar music, lots of swearing and sexual references, but the vid- eos themselves seem to have a lot of racy stuff except for sug- gestive dancing and tight clothes. Also, keep an eye out for privacy and safety concerns with this one: Make sure kids understand the set- tings and know whether sharing only with friends or the general public. Rating and content Recommended for ages 16 and older Quality: 4 out of 5 Ease of play: 3 out of 5 Violence: 0 out of 5 Sexy stuff: 3 out of 5 Language: 4 out of 5 Drinking, drugs, and smoking: 1 out of 5 Consumerism: 1 out of 5 (Are embed- ded? Is the title part of a broader marketing App details Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Fire phone, Kin- dle Fire Price: Free Release date: January 14, 2016 Category: Music and sing- along Size: 62.90 MB Publisher: HYPERLINK musical.ly”musical.ly inc. Minimum software require- ments: iOS 7.0 or later; Android 4.1 and up Musical.ly is a mobile music video community MUSICAL.LY This is a screenshot from Musical.ly, a music video app..