Read the first part of this look back in Extra.
1 day ago
Showing posts with label Teen Grid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teen Grid. Show all posts
Friday, December 27, 2019
Top Stories of The 2010s, Part One
Read the first part of this look back in Extra.
Friday, February 3, 2012
The Teen Grid Merger One Year Later
It’s been about a year since the merger of the old Teen Grid with the main Second Life Grid. At the time, the news was greeted with a combination of optimism and worry. Some residents looked forward to the adolescents coming it over, seeing it as a chance to further fulfil the idea of Second Life as a place for education. A few offered to actively assist the teens. Others expressed worry, fearing an incident of teens in sexual escapades or caught looking at adult material on the Grid could get Linden Labs in serious trouble, or worse possibly someone arrested.
One year later, there haven’t been any incidents that the critics have feared. On the other hand, where are the teens? Among those offering help was the Isla Sonoita educational community. Josain Zsun announced at the time of the grid merger a “Teen in Residents” program in which those joining up would get skyboxes for six months plus 2000 Lindens. Getting in touch with Josain, he told the Newser none of the teens signed up for it, “Although announced several times in different related news groups, there were no takers.”
In his article on the subject, Daniel Voyager thought the teens had basically lost interest in Second Life and went elsewhere on the Internet. Others responding to him shared much the same view, one pointing out his daughter “didn’t want to hang out with a bunch of OLD people. One thought they as a whole left while those remaining were hanging out at sex clubs with older residents with similar mindsets.
Talking to club owner Nydia Tungsten, she had her own opinion, “They’re here, disguised as adults.” She had found several of them at her clubs and hangouts., “after a few signs, I confronted them and talked to them. Then they admitted it to me.” She told me after a “talking-to” they moved on.
Discussing things further with Nydia, she informed me the initial method of age verification, using one’s credit card number, social security number, drivers license, etc. had been quietly done away with. In it’s place was a simple question with a box for a checkmark affirming that the birthdate on the account was correct and over 18. That’s all, “they create avatars with false birth dates and since the verify is "click here if your over 18" and POOF from thirteen to 23 in a blink of an eye.”
For most of Second Life’s history, residents could come and go about freely more or less wherever they wished. Then a few years ago amid fears of the possibility of teenagers not telling the truth about their age and signing up, Linden Labs declared areas with explicit adult content a new “Adult” rating, and residents wanting access to those areas would have to be “Age Verified,” by giving Linden Lab a credit card number, social security number, drivers license, or similar proof of age. This move was not popular with residents, many whom complained over privacy grounds. If this information was somehow stolen from the Lab, there was the potential of people being fingered as traveling to pornographic areas.
To check Nydia’s story, I took another look at Age Verification. And indeed it had changed. No longer did you need some kind of ID. All you needed to do was click on a checkmark saying you indeed were 18 or over. No proof required. There really was nothing stopping a teen from lying about his or her age. Nydia did comment even if there was, all that was needed for a determined teen was to borrow a parent’s credit card.
Spotting teens in disguise isn’t always easy. While many use lines full of textspeak and acronyms, “U R LUSR! LOL!”, there are some who don’t. While some talk excessively about sex, “Where can I see the boobs?” unfortunately there are no shortage of adults whom haven’t quite grown up, and some teens are mature for their age and talk about it no more than anyone else. One should also keep in mind some adult residents have mental disabilities and may not be easy to tell apart from younger residents.
And what are the teens doing here? No doubt some are looking for sex clubs and girly bars. Others come here for pretty much the same reasons as other residents. But for some, unless they find others close to their age, Second Life’s attraction may fade.
And then there were a couple teens that got Nydia’s attention, “Two of the ones I found were experimenting because they didn't feel right about themselves in real life, their sexuality. Here, no one knows them, no kids in school to ‘out’ them and make their lives hell. I told them that their are real-life groups to help with that. But they were afraid.”
“So for someone to say ‘oh the teens went away to other things,’ no, they are still here among us on adult sims.”
Bixyl Shuftan
One year later, there haven’t been any incidents that the critics have feared. On the other hand, where are the teens? Among those offering help was the Isla Sonoita educational community. Josain Zsun announced at the time of the grid merger a “Teen in Residents” program in which those joining up would get skyboxes for six months plus 2000 Lindens. Getting in touch with Josain, he told the Newser none of the teens signed up for it, “Although announced several times in different related news groups, there were no takers.”
In his article on the subject, Daniel Voyager thought the teens had basically lost interest in Second Life and went elsewhere on the Internet. Others responding to him shared much the same view, one pointing out his daughter “didn’t want to hang out with a bunch of OLD people. One thought they as a whole left while those remaining were hanging out at sex clubs with older residents with similar mindsets.
Talking to club owner Nydia Tungsten, she had her own opinion, “They’re here, disguised as adults.” She had found several of them at her clubs and hangouts., “after a few signs, I confronted them and talked to them. Then they admitted it to me.” She told me after a “talking-to” they moved on.
Discussing things further with Nydia, she informed me the initial method of age verification, using one’s credit card number, social security number, drivers license, etc. had been quietly done away with. In it’s place was a simple question with a box for a checkmark affirming that the birthdate on the account was correct and over 18. That’s all, “they create avatars with false birth dates and since the verify is "click here if your over 18" and POOF from thirteen to 23 in a blink of an eye.”
For most of Second Life’s history, residents could come and go about freely more or less wherever they wished. Then a few years ago amid fears of the possibility of teenagers not telling the truth about their age and signing up, Linden Labs declared areas with explicit adult content a new “Adult” rating, and residents wanting access to those areas would have to be “Age Verified,” by giving Linden Lab a credit card number, social security number, drivers license, or similar proof of age. This move was not popular with residents, many whom complained over privacy grounds. If this information was somehow stolen from the Lab, there was the potential of people being fingered as traveling to pornographic areas.
To check Nydia’s story, I took another look at Age Verification. And indeed it had changed. No longer did you need some kind of ID. All you needed to do was click on a checkmark saying you indeed were 18 or over. No proof required. There really was nothing stopping a teen from lying about his or her age. Nydia did comment even if there was, all that was needed for a determined teen was to borrow a parent’s credit card.
Spotting teens in disguise isn’t always easy. While many use lines full of textspeak and acronyms, “U R LUSR! LOL!”, there are some who don’t. While some talk excessively about sex, “Where can I see the boobs?” unfortunately there are no shortage of adults whom haven’t quite grown up, and some teens are mature for their age and talk about it no more than anyone else. One should also keep in mind some adult residents have mental disabilities and may not be easy to tell apart from younger residents.
And what are the teens doing here? No doubt some are looking for sex clubs and girly bars. Others come here for pretty much the same reasons as other residents. But for some, unless they find others close to their age, Second Life’s attraction may fade.
And then there were a couple teens that got Nydia’s attention, “Two of the ones I found were experimenting because they didn't feel right about themselves in real life, their sexuality. Here, no one knows them, no kids in school to ‘out’ them and make their lives hell. I told them that their are real-life groups to help with that. But they were afraid.”
“So for someone to say ‘oh the teens went away to other things,’ no, they are still here among us on adult sims.”
Bixyl Shuftan
Monday, January 31, 2011
Ready or Not Here Come The Teens
Last year, Philip Linden announced that Second Life’s Teen Grid would be merging with the main, bringing in a number of young residents. The news brought a number of shocked responses, some predicting trouble. As this was about the same time as the Emerald controversy, it might have otherwise gotten more talk than it did had there not been other pressing matters.
A bit more than a week ago, Linden Lab quietly announced it was finally transferring the teen accounts over. The news made a few blogs, such as Tateru Nino’s “Dwell on It.” I also observed a short chat about it between SL players on Facebook, the people wanting to welcome the teens. The Betaverse blog suggested making February “Teen Welcome Month.” I was also told by a friend that someone whom lost land from the Interlibber Estate bankruptcy in 2009 was going to provide a sim to help welcome the teens, after they were now out of a place to stay and in need of a new one.
Betaverse mentioned three ten-friendly places:
Not every resident is expressing such optimism about the teens. The forums are full of comments questioning Linden Labs’ judgment about allowing 16 and 17 year olds on the main Grid, let alone those younger being allowed in if they’re with a sponsor. Chatting with friends, some predicted the arrival of teens would bring a plague of content thieves and griefers, driving paying residents from Second Life. And of course were the old fears of lawsuits on Linden lab and arrests of residents by parents who catch their kids peeping in on private activities. “I asked the Lindens about merging the grid months ago, and they told me there would be no merger!” one frustrated resident told me of Linden Labs’ apparently changing their mind.
Tateru Nino brought up a few details that may help reassure some a little. Of the teens younger than 16 whom could get on the sim of a sponsor, her talk with someone from the lab suggested no sponsor had been approved yet, and the sponsorship system itself might have been postponed. She also reminded that the teens were far less than the adult population. Teen Second Life has always had a small population, adolescents tending to prefer Facebook, MORPGs, and virtual worlds that appeal to them, such as Gaia Online.
And there’s the argument that there always have been some teens in Second Life, the secret adolescents not giving true information about their age. I’ve heard from friends of residents they know confessing they were underage. Linden Lab’s Teen Grid merger simply takes the blinders off people fooling themselves there were no people under 18 in Second Life, more than one person has commented.
So what do the teens themselves think? A meeting a month ago at Global Kids Island suggested most were feeling rather anxious about the merger, feeling their close community was coming to an end. Some felt the 13-15 year olds were getting “shut out completely.” The news of the angry comments from the official forums had reached them, and some felt pessimistic about the welcome they would get if it was know they were teens. Still, a few expressed excitement of the merger, and they chance they would get to show off their talents.
For anyone not wanting teens on his/her land, there's always the option of setting their land to “Mature” or “Adult” to keep accounts of those under 18 off.
So ready or not, the grids have merged, and for better or worse the Main now has these youngsters, at least on the PG grids.
Sources: Dwell on It, SL Blog, Betaverse
Picture from Betaverse
Bixyl Shuftan
A bit more than a week ago, Linden Lab quietly announced it was finally transferring the teen accounts over. The news made a few blogs, such as Tateru Nino’s “Dwell on It.” I also observed a short chat about it between SL players on Facebook, the people wanting to welcome the teens. The Betaverse blog suggested making February “Teen Welcome Month.” I was also told by a friend that someone whom lost land from the Interlibber Estate bankruptcy in 2009 was going to provide a sim to help welcome the teens, after they were now out of a place to stay and in need of a new one.
Betaverse mentioned three ten-friendly places:
- Ozma Malibu over at the Nonprofit Commons reports that they want to help mentor any teens that need help, create a "teen hangout" space on their Eco sim, and provide "informational welcoming posters and a variety of activities coming up, e.g. art with an art professor, various building workshops for the newer teens, more dances & etc. We'll also encourage teens to start their own nonprofits, and can mentor them through that process." Nice!
- Isla Sonoita is offering a "Teen in Residence" program to creative teens with a space for six months to work on creative projects on their sim. You also get L$ 2,000 to start you off.
- The Chilbo Community has published a really nice opinion piece about the Teen Grid merger and informs teens about their various spots, including the Town Hall, coffee shop, bowling alley, museum and land for sale.
- Further down the road, the Virtual Best Practices in Education organizers report that they March 17-19 event will feature a special Teen Fair to involve teens in their conference
Not every resident is expressing such optimism about the teens. The forums are full of comments questioning Linden Labs’ judgment about allowing 16 and 17 year olds on the main Grid, let alone those younger being allowed in if they’re with a sponsor. Chatting with friends, some predicted the arrival of teens would bring a plague of content thieves and griefers, driving paying residents from Second Life. And of course were the old fears of lawsuits on Linden lab and arrests of residents by parents who catch their kids peeping in on private activities. “I asked the Lindens about merging the grid months ago, and they told me there would be no merger!” one frustrated resident told me of Linden Labs’ apparently changing their mind.
Tateru Nino brought up a few details that may help reassure some a little. Of the teens younger than 16 whom could get on the sim of a sponsor, her talk with someone from the lab suggested no sponsor had been approved yet, and the sponsorship system itself might have been postponed. She also reminded that the teens were far less than the adult population. Teen Second Life has always had a small population, adolescents tending to prefer Facebook, MORPGs, and virtual worlds that appeal to them, such as Gaia Online.
And there’s the argument that there always have been some teens in Second Life, the secret adolescents not giving true information about their age. I’ve heard from friends of residents they know confessing they were underage. Linden Lab’s Teen Grid merger simply takes the blinders off people fooling themselves there were no people under 18 in Second Life, more than one person has commented.
So what do the teens themselves think? A meeting a month ago at Global Kids Island suggested most were feeling rather anxious about the merger, feeling their close community was coming to an end. Some felt the 13-15 year olds were getting “shut out completely.” The news of the angry comments from the official forums had reached them, and some felt pessimistic about the welcome they would get if it was know they were teens. Still, a few expressed excitement of the merger, and they chance they would get to show off their talents.For anyone not wanting teens on his/her land, there's always the option of setting their land to “Mature” or “Adult” to keep accounts of those under 18 off.
So ready or not, the grids have merged, and for better or worse the Main now has these youngsters, at least on the PG grids.
Sources: Dwell on It, SL Blog, Betaverse
Picture from Betaverse
Bixyl Shuftan
Monday, November 22, 2010
Bringing Teens to Second Life’s Main Grid and Work on Search
Last week, Terrace Linden gave an update on Linden Labs plans to merge the under-18 population of the Teen Grid with the Main. “Today, I’m happy share our plan to create rich and enjoyable Second Life experiences for teens, while keeping in mind their security and safety when joining the Main Grid. ... Our goal is to provide a safe, secure, and rewarding experience to all Second Life Residents, no matter their age.”For those from age 13 to 15, they would be limited to places owned by a “sponsoring institution,” and would not be able to use ether the “Search” function or the Marketplace on the Internet. For residents of ages 16 and 17, they would have access to all land rated General/PG, both mainland and private sims. Moderate/Mature and Adult regions would be off-limits. But, they would be able to communicate (open chat and instant-message) and friend older users.
With nearly 5,000 General-rated regions in Second Life, the area that will be accessible to our 16- and 17-year-old Residents will dwarf the 100 regions currently available on Teen Second Life, giving them far more space to create, explore, and experience their online environment and what they can do there.
Our 16- and 17-year-old account holders will also be able to communicate fully with all other users on the Main Grid (unless they have been muted or otherwise restricted). This was an important decision for us, and one we think will make Second Life richer for all Residents.
Beginning in January, “13- to 15-year-olds will no longer be able to register for Second Life unless they are brought in through an affiliated organization.” Teens 16 and 17 can register on the Main Grid. Teen Grid residents will have their inventories transferred over, except for those under 16 not in any group moving to the Main Grid. Teen Grid residents ages 13 to 15 who cannot get on the Main Grid will have their accounts inactive until they reach the age of 16.
... the experience of teens in Second Life is only just beginning. We strongly believe that teens have as much to contribute to the Second Life community as their adult counterparts, and we do not want to restrict the flow of ideas and information between the two groups. We all have much to learn from each other.
Residents commenting below generally were skeptical to opposed. “You are opening up a tremendous black hole of legal jeopardy here,” one commented, pointing out a proposed JIRA to keep minors from looking into or interacting in any way sims with higher ratings than they could move about in. More than one resident expressed fear of arrest by police, branded as child molesters for the rest of their lives. Someone suggested that the best solution was probably the simplest, create a new General/PG continent the minors would be restricted to, or just freeze their accounts altogether until they turned 18. “How many teens are we talking about? 500? 1000?” one asked, “Was it really worth causing so much frustration for so many residents for the sake of 1000 kids?” A few commented that teens already had de-facto access, if they lied about their age. And there were those open to Linden Labs plans, but wary, "Do this, but please do it right. I don't want Cindy's dad knocking on my door carrying a baseball bat."
To read the complete Linden blog post and comments: Click Here.
Jack Linden stated Linden Labs has been making improvements to the Search function, “the SL Search team has been working hard to make Search results more accurate and prepare for the Teen Second Life migration to the Main Grid.” He stated there were new filters for Search to differentate General/PG and Moderate/Mature ratings of places, classified ads getting “content filtering to provide another level of rating validation,” “more sophisticated filters to identify spam,” and changes to the destination guide.
The coments below were generally skeptical to critical, one stating “Viewer 2 search is painfully slow compared to 1.x viewer search,” and another commenting Linden Labs was causing numbers of merchants hardship “just so a few hundred kids can come on the grid.”
For the complete post and comments, Click Here.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Linden Labs to Allow Limited Access by 13-15 Year-Old Teens After Merger
On the Linden Lab blog announcement on Tuesday September 28, Terrence Linden announced that with the upcoming closing of the Teen Grid, the educational and non-profit groups and their members there would be able to continue on in the Main Grid. This includes those teens from 13 to 15 years old.Terrence stated that these teens would not be able to go across most of the Main Grid, but in Second Life be restricted to those areas of their group. Neither Search or the Marketplace will be available to them. “We will implement these controls and transfer these rich and exciting projects from Teen Second Life before the end of this year.”
Reaction in the following comments was somewhat mixed. A majority of the posters seemed to approve of this move. A sizable minority expressed worry, one saying all it would take would be for one peeping tom to pan over to a mature sim and see someone alone in the privacy of his home and naked, and for the parents to catch the kid and file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Linden Lab, or even have the avatar owner arrested, for corrupting a child. A proposal was made for a way to stop this, and put into the JIRA: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-6242?
No doubt the debate will continue as the merger approaches.
Read the blog entry and comments Here.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Eye on the Blog: Teen Grid to Close December 31st
Yesterday, Friday August 20th, Terrence Linden finally gave Linden Lab's statement about "the difficult decision to discontinue Teen Second Life." Some of the information was a repeat of what Philip Linden has stated at SLCC, "supporting and developing for two separate grids has been a challenge for us, and has slowed progress on improvements that benefit all Residents." But there was also some new information, "Teen Second Life will be closing on December 31, 2010, and we plan to begin accepting 16-year-old Residents to the Main Grid on or before that date."Of those younger than sixteen, Terrence stated there was a possibility that younger teens might be given very limited access to the grid in the future. But because of safety concerns, it might never happen, "We are evaluating if there are ways to allow 13 -15 year olds to have safe access to limited locations on the Main Grid with appropriate controls at some point in the future. However, there is no guarantee that we will be able to do that, or when, as we weigh it against other company priorities at this point."
Terrence stated that the Lindens would be "talking to teens, parents, and educators about the needs of younger users" and "be setting up inworld meetings in the coming weeks to learn more about those needs."
Read the full post Here.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Teen Grid Closing, Part Two
It’s been a few days since Philip Linden’s August 14th announcement during his address to the SLCC convention in Boston in which he stated that that the Teen Grid would be closing, and the residents there 16 and 17 years of age being moved to the main Grid in Second Life. Philip Linden obviously knew this would run into a great deal of resistance, calling it “probably the most contentious thing” in his speech. And from the SL forums to resident blogs to Twitter to chats with residents themselves, there has been no shortage of comments.
In his keynote address, Philip began talking about the issue 36 minutes into this video. He stated Linden Labs’ “long term goal is to unify activities on the main grid.” Of launching the Teen Grid, Philip Linden felt “we made a mistake,” commenting on how the two grids were completely separate, unable to share content. With two separate grids, Philip remarked Linden Labs was in a position in which it “could never win.” He also mentioned the educational activities in the main grid, currently unavailable to those on the teengrid.
“In the coming months,” Philip stated, those residents sixteen and seventeen years old in the Teen Grid would be “given notice” and “allowed to transfer” to the Main Grid. He talked about working with educators on the transition for these users, “we’re going to be careful.” Philip was fairly confident about their plans, saying “the content filtering and protections are adequate” saying the 16 and 17 year olds should be able to handle the main grid.
A couple issues are still a guess in how Linden Lab will act. Will those under 18 be limited to G-rated (General) sims? The Wiki’s Maturity Ratings page states a club with "burlesque acts," aka topless dancers, can fall in Mature (Moderate) sims. The thought that 16 year olds can slip into such clubs is enough to chill those who run them, one club manager I talked to saying, “this is gonna to screw ******* and any other club!”
Of those younger than 16, Philip told, “the younger part of the grid we are basically going to turn off.” What happens to them? Will their accounts be dormant, or will they be erased. Being thrown means that whatever Lindens put into those accounts will essentially be thrown out for no fault of the youngster’s own.
Overall, the comments I’ve noticed are mostly negative. In a sense, Linden Labs has managed to offend all parties concerned, the adults whom wonder if they will no longer be able to have the fun they used to, the younger teens whom at best are suspended from any Second Life experience for a while and at worst facing their deletion, and the older teens whose old home will be gone and their status in their new one uncertain.
Not all the comments have been negative. A few of the adults felt it was simply not fair that the younger teens would be thrown out of Second Life for a while. And a few others felt Linden Labs was simply taking off the veil of the misconception that the Main Grid was completely free of adolescents. Aeonix Aeon of Pixel Labs commented, “I don't think it's gonna really change much of anything. Teens were always on the main grid to begin with. They're just acknowledging it and stopping trying to fight it. Probably a major resource drain. ... that’s what a combination of parenting and ratings are for. Just like the Internet itself. There isn't a separate internet just for kids. Instead it relies on ratings, and parental control. But that doesn't stop kids from checking out porn sites. Most parents are lazy when it comes to that. All shutting down the teen grid means is that LL is no longer wasting tons of resources to babysit kids when its really the parent's responsibility.”
As logical as this argument is, it’s doubtful it’ll hold up to the court of public opinion should then teens manage to sneak into a clearly adult area. As Tatero Nino put it, this is “a whole PR mess waiting to happen. And even with the most zealous enforcement, it probably will.”
I can’t help but ask why couldn’t this be done better, maybe simply halt new memberships to the Teen Grid and let attrition take care of the problem, at least that of the younger teenagers. I also recall my old guild in World of Warcraft. Even though teenagers could play the game, my guild didn’t like bringing them in. If someone under 18 wanted in our guild, one of us would have to vouch for his/her good behavior.
Could something like this be done here? For a teenager to be allowed into the main grid, someone here having to confirm he or she will behave? Hardly perfect, but it can only help.
In any event, Philip did state, “in the coming months.” So for now, we have time to debate the issue, and perhaps get Linden Lab to change it's plans.
Bixyl Shuftan
Tatero Nino’s "Dwell on It" post
Linden Lab Community forums, with threads such as “Grid Merger, Opinions” and “What Philip Actually Said About The Teen Grid Closure“
In his keynote address, Philip began talking about the issue 36 minutes into this video. He stated Linden Labs’ “long term goal is to unify activities on the main grid.” Of launching the Teen Grid, Philip Linden felt “we made a mistake,” commenting on how the two grids were completely separate, unable to share content. With two separate grids, Philip remarked Linden Labs was in a position in which it “could never win.” He also mentioned the educational activities in the main grid, currently unavailable to those on the teengrid.
“In the coming months,” Philip stated, those residents sixteen and seventeen years old in the Teen Grid would be “given notice” and “allowed to transfer” to the Main Grid. He talked about working with educators on the transition for these users, “we’re going to be careful.” Philip was fairly confident about their plans, saying “the content filtering and protections are adequate” saying the 16 and 17 year olds should be able to handle the main grid.
A couple issues are still a guess in how Linden Lab will act. Will those under 18 be limited to G-rated (General) sims? The Wiki’s Maturity Ratings page states a club with "burlesque acts," aka topless dancers, can fall in Mature (Moderate) sims. The thought that 16 year olds can slip into such clubs is enough to chill those who run them, one club manager I talked to saying, “this is gonna to screw ******* and any other club!”
Of those younger than 16, Philip told, “the younger part of the grid we are basically going to turn off.” What happens to them? Will their accounts be dormant, or will they be erased. Being thrown means that whatever Lindens put into those accounts will essentially be thrown out for no fault of the youngster’s own.
Overall, the comments I’ve noticed are mostly negative. In a sense, Linden Labs has managed to offend all parties concerned, the adults whom wonder if they will no longer be able to have the fun they used to, the younger teens whom at best are suspended from any Second Life experience for a while and at worst facing their deletion, and the older teens whose old home will be gone and their status in their new one uncertain.
Not all the comments have been negative. A few of the adults felt it was simply not fair that the younger teens would be thrown out of Second Life for a while. And a few others felt Linden Labs was simply taking off the veil of the misconception that the Main Grid was completely free of adolescents. Aeonix Aeon of Pixel Labs commented, “I don't think it's gonna really change much of anything. Teens were always on the main grid to begin with. They're just acknowledging it and stopping trying to fight it. Probably a major resource drain. ... that’s what a combination of parenting and ratings are for. Just like the Internet itself. There isn't a separate internet just for kids. Instead it relies on ratings, and parental control. But that doesn't stop kids from checking out porn sites. Most parents are lazy when it comes to that. All shutting down the teen grid means is that LL is no longer wasting tons of resources to babysit kids when its really the parent's responsibility.”
As logical as this argument is, it’s doubtful it’ll hold up to the court of public opinion should then teens manage to sneak into a clearly adult area. As Tatero Nino put it, this is “a whole PR mess waiting to happen. And even with the most zealous enforcement, it probably will.”
I can’t help but ask why couldn’t this be done better, maybe simply halt new memberships to the Teen Grid and let attrition take care of the problem, at least that of the younger teenagers. I also recall my old guild in World of Warcraft. Even though teenagers could play the game, my guild didn’t like bringing them in. If someone under 18 wanted in our guild, one of us would have to vouch for his/her good behavior.
Could something like this be done here? For a teenager to be allowed into the main grid, someone here having to confirm he or she will behave? Hardly perfect, but it can only help.
In any event, Philip did state, “in the coming months.” So for now, we have time to debate the issue, and perhaps get Linden Lab to change it's plans.
Bixyl Shuftan
Tatero Nino’s "Dwell on It" post
Linden Lab Community forums, with threads such as “Grid Merger, Opinions” and “What Philip Actually Said About The Teen Grid Closure“
Sunday, August 15, 2010
BREAKING NEWS: Teen Grid to Come Down, 16 and 17 Year Olds to Join Mainland
On Saturday August 14 at the SLCC conference, Philip Linden gave his keynote address about future plans for Second Life. Among them was a change which has been around in rumors for years but never brought about until now.
The Teen Grid will be closed, and some of the minors, the 16 and 17 year olds, will be moving to the main.
There's no official post in the blog yet, the news coming from SLCC. But residents certainly have been making comments, some of which can be read: Here.
Developments are still coming in as to what is another major change in Second Life.
Bixyl Shuftan
The Teen Grid will be closed, and some of the minors, the 16 and 17 year olds, will be moving to the main.
There's no official post in the blog yet, the news coming from SLCC. But residents certainly have been making comments, some of which can be read: Here.
Developments are still coming in as to what is another major change in Second Life.
Bixyl Shuftan
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