I sympathize with many of the points in this article (and props to moo for writing it), but I’d like to respond to a few charges leveled against Linden Lab that I think are unfair.

First, Lindens (including a developer or two) hold regular office hours on Teen Grid. Sometimes teens show up, most of the time they don’t. But Lindens make themselves available to teens and teen feedback.

Second, having even one Linden (say, Blue) dedicated solely to Teen Grid works out to a way higher ratio of Lindens to Residents than exists on Main Grid. If you take into consideration that Claudia Linden is almost entirely dedicated to creating the All Ages Area (yes, I said All Ages Area), that makes two Lindens whose major work focuses almost exclusively on making teens happier than they currently are.

If you include in your evaluation of Linden presence on Teen Grid the number of Lindens who have offices on Teen Grid, frequently hang out on Teen Grid, shop on Teen Grid, have teens on their friends lists, and just generally care about Teen Grid, it works out to an overwhelming amount of Linden participation vs. at best marginal Main Grid Linden participation.

Third, every quarter, Linden Lab invites at least one teen to Second Life Views, the LL-run focus group. Given that there are less than 15 attendees per session, again the proportion is skewed in favor of teens. Katharine Berry herself was invited to attend Views and at terrible expense to LL. I’m sure Everett will hurt me for saying this but it needs to be said, Kath’s attendance costs were 19% of the total amount spent on that Views session, which again, is terribly disproportionate if one considers the numbers. What does that mean? LL isn’t just paying lip-service to teens. LL is forking over money, and in some cases, lots of it to gain crucial teen feedback.

Fourth, teens still benefit from a Linden Answers section on the official SL forums where MG Residents haven’t had that possibility for a long, long time.

Fifth, Hamilton Linden, Linden Lab’s Director of Developer Operations, has turned his attention to performance and stability (lag included) in a big way. Those issues are not TG specific. We all suffer from them.

Sixth, registration sucks. Linden Lab knows it. Linden Lab is working on it. Want proof? Papal has been fixed!!!! Yes, I agree that it took too long. Yes, I agree that more stuff should get fixed. Yes, LL is working on it.

Many of the issues stated in this article are totally legit. Many of the issues also apply to Main Grid. Many of the accusations are unfairly leveled against LL. It’s important not to totalize our evaluations of Teen Grid. Yes, it’s not ideal. Yes, LL cares about that uncomfortable reality. Yes, LL is trying to fix many of the more dire problems that plague teens. Yes, keep laying on the pressure so that more stuff gets fixed, but also keep in mind that LL really is trying, especially Blue and Claudia. Teen Grid is in good hands. And I no longer work for LL, so I have no vested interest in defending it's policies re Teen Grid. Just trying to set the record straight.