Barbie makes her move.

IF my little household is any sign, the decision by MGA Entertainment Inc. of Van Nuys to unveil a social networking Web site around its Bratz line of dolls this week probably will be a good one.

MGA's move follows a similar one from Mattel Inc. In case you missed it, the El Segundo company rolled out Barbiegifls.com a few months back to capitalize on its Barbie brand. Girls can customize their own character, outfit her room and buy stuff by building imaginary credits. Girls can visit each others' rooms.

I knew my 6-year-old girl was spending a lot of time on the site, but her obsession became clear during a recent family outing when she pestered me to return home early because she "needed" to feed her online pet. I'm bracing myself for the torrent of stuff she "needs" to buy, thanks to the Barbie Web site.

Here's a question: What took them so long?

Social networking sites have been huge for several years among teens. Moving social networking down to the hop scotch set seems like such a no-brainer that you'd think these initiatives would have been done at least a year or so ago.

Unfortunately, that question soon will be replaced by a more important one: How will these L.A. companies deal with online child predators?

Charles Crumpley is editor of the Business Journal. He can be reached at [e-mail].