Lycos' Tripod Unveils Teenspeak—Online Forum for Teens to Discuss Issues, Help Themselves and Each Other Find Solutions

Business Wire, July 27, 1999

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 1999--

Teen-centric Site Offers Live Chats,

Message Boards, and Selected Homepages

Teens have found their voice online! Tripod (http://www.tripod.com), the popular online community and part of the Lycos Network (NASDAQ:LCOS), today launched Tripod TeenSpeak(http://teenspeak.tripod.com/).

Tripod TeenSpeak is a forum dedicated to teen-focused content and conversation and will emphasize teen activism around the serious issues facing today's youth. Tripod TeenSpeak is also designed to showcase the fact that many teens are building homepages of social value, reflecting originality, creativity, and intelligence. Tripod TeenSpeak will foster discussion and provide information on critical issues in teenagers' lives. This forum for teen-related issues is a natural extension for Tripod because of the millions of teens who use the site daily.

"Our members have always connected on issues and topics important to them. Lately our teen members have been especially motivated to express themselves through personal homepages and online interaction in chats and message boards," said Margaret Gould-Stewart, Tripod spokesperson. "The challenges of being a modern teenager are daunting, so we created Tripod TeenSpeak as place for them to explore issues, interact with peers, and access information they can use to help themselves and each other."

Built in conjunction with a specially-assembled Teen Advisory Group, Tripod TeenSpeak is a place for teens to interact with each other and express themselves on a series of scheduled topics via message boards, chat rooms, and their own homepages. Teens can also access links and contact information of various support organizations, 24-hour hotlines, and other information sources. Tripod TeenSpeak encourages visitors to provide feedback on the issues and on the site itself. In addition, graphics will be available for other homepage builders to add to their homepages as a show of support.

Tripod TeenSpeak Topics

Tripod TeenSpeak's Teen Advisory Group, which helps shape the program as well as select topics for discussion, is made up of teen-aged Tripod members from around the country. Teen Violence is the first subject Tripod TeenSpeak addresses. Future topics may include depression, eating disorders, drugs/alcohol abuse, peer pressure, relationships, and sexual identity. Past topics will be archived so visitors can access the information.

Tripod's first topic area was inspired in part by TRAVIS (Teens Rallying Against Violence In Schools), a grass roots movement founded in May, 1999 by two Tripod members. The teen founders of Travis created a Web site on Tripod (http://members.tripod.com/TRAVIS_99/) as part of their campaign to end student violence and share views on the school shootings that occurred this past spring. The founders of TRAVIS are charter members of the Teen Advisory Group.

Other Tripod teen violence-related homepages referenced on the Tripod TeenSpeak site include

- Columbine High School--The Shootings in Colorado:

http://members.tripod.com/chsmemorial/

- Exiles--Solidarity Now: http://members.tripod.com/SolidarityNow/

- Internet Campaign Against Violence:

http://members.tripod.com/icav/

- Net Sisters Supports Safeguarding Our Children:

http://members.tripod.com/our_cause/ns_support.htm

"We want Tripod TeenSpeak to be a comfortable on-line space where teens can find information, interaction, tools, and resources to help them deal with the serious issues they are facing. We hope that by building awareness among teens, we can help create an environment of honest, supportive dialog," Stewart concluded.

Tripod TeenSpeak is a part of an ongoing broader Lycos initiative, dedicated to providing educational and fun content for families, teens, and children. Over one year ago, Lycos was the first to offer a free, optional service to search the Web safely, SearchGuard, by protecting against inadvertent exposure to inappropriate and objectionable content and advertising. Additionally, the Lycos Network has a wide array of age-appropriate environments for children and teens.

Recently, Lycos sponsored CyberSurfari, an online scavenger hunt for children and families and BookAdventure, a way to promote childhood reading.

About Tripod

Founded in 1992, Tripod (www.tripod.com) provides the Web's best homepage-publishing tools, fast-growing interactive community, stimulating original content, and wide-ranging commerce opportunities to more than 3.8 million members. Headquartered in Williamstown, Mass., Tripod is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lycos, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCOS). Founded in 1995, Lycos, Inc. is a leading Web media company and one of the most visited hubs on the Internet reaching one out of every two Web users. The Lycos Network is a unified set of Web sites that attracts a diverse audience by offering a variety of services, including leading Web navigation resources, homepage building and other Web community services and a comprehensive shopping center. Headquartered near Boston in Waltham, Mass., Lycos, Inc. is a global Internet leader with a major presence throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.