As a Millenial myself, the Metaverse Journal strikes me as amusing, condescending, and rather misguided. The idea that we are incapable of enjoying free-form play, or that we are "not bold" enough to explore creative activities, is utter nonsense.

While it's true that my generation has been force-fed mass-produced playsets and adult-directed after-school programs since birth (thanks, mom!), that hasn't left us an entire generation of zombie consumers. (Nor has the cultural climate of the previous generation rendered everyone above the age of 30 a self-driven, free-spirited creative soul. Don't flatter yourselves. ;-P )

Look at the popularity of the Spore creature creator, or The Sims, or the "customize your avatar" Flash virtual worlds. Look at the blogs, the podcasts, the YouTube videos. These are clear evidence of self-directed creative activity by Millenials. (Not that these things are popular with justh that one demographic. I assert that free-form play has universal appeal, no matter the age group or culture.)

So assuming that it's true that Millenials tend not to be interested in SL, why might that be?

Perhaps because the things that older generations find novel and fascinating about SL are old hat to most of us youngsters. Made a friend from Japan? Did that when I was 12. Dressed yourself up in big boobs and high-heels, and cybered with a hot studmuffin? Yawn.

Without the novelty of these experiences, SL just looks like a shoddy program with bad graphics and few of the features we want -- in other words, a waste of time. Aside from the rare soul who find something personally appealing about SL, why would any of us want to spend our precious few free moments on such a second-rate experience?