It May Not Be the Kiss of Death...

...but surely having the New York Times discover virtual worlds for kids must be a little like having your father tell you he really likes that punk rock music you're listening to. There's the Good Grey Lady nodding her head in the direction of Club Penguin and Webkinz and the like, while quoting eMarketer predictions of 20 million kids visiting virtual worlds by 2011.

No surprise, really. As noted earlier in this blog, there was a lot of discussion of the rise of virtual worlds for kids at the Social Media Club event in December. Those of us who think it's hard enough to cope with the real world are, again, being outpaced by our kids and grandkids. Which, come to think of it, has always been the way things work.

Hat tip: MediaPost