Disney Purchases 3 Social Networking Sites

By John Rossi :: 7:59 AM

The Walt Disney Company has acquired three children’s social networking sites within the past few days.

Moving away from developing console video games and investing more in social and mobile companies, Disney has purchased Playdom, a social gaming company, for $563 million, Togetherville, a children’s social network, and Tapulous, a mobile music game company.

Togetherville is a social network geared for children between the ages of 6 and 10, and allows children to interact with the children of their parents’ friends on Facebook. Through pre-selected messages, games, and movies, kids can navigate the site in a fashion very similar to Facebook, and parents are allowed to see the shared material first.

While the company did not disclose the details of the Togetherville deal, including the amount they paid, or how many members Togetherville has, this shift in Disney’s online and games philosophy is a sign of its growing interest in the social media and gaming.