IamfromatlantaGeorgiaEffectsPaper

Second Life functions essentially as a blank slate in which one can create or participate in any thing they can dream. It functions essentially as a blank slate in which people can fully control what happens and how it happens. It is interesting that given the opportunity to create anything that people often choose to recreate or imitate real life. Equally as interesting is that the things and behaviors recreated from real life when used on second life can then come back and influence real life.
 * Effects of Second Life on Real Life and the reverse**

In the past years there has been some public legal battles have played out over the activities allowed in second life particularly with respect to the sex culture involving child. In 1997 the Supreme Court heard Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which dealt with the Communications Decency Act (CDA), passed by Congress in 1996 to protect minors from sexually explicit material conveyed over the Internet. In 1996 Congress also passed the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) to prevent people from the usage of virtual children in sexual activity. The case came before the court in 2002 Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition and the law was overturned. There has been a lot of speculation that Congress will try to pass another law attempting to regulate the sex culture on the Internet and on second life.
 * Legal Issues**

In a lot of ways it is easy to see why Congress has become so concerned with the amount of sex culture present on the internet, especially in a virtual world like second life, and who can view and be affected by it. When one first logs in to second life one is struck by the large amount of sex culture on the second life grid. In the beginning it seems as though the sex culture in second life is a means for people that can who for some reason cannot participate in sex culture in real life. The further one amerces oneself into the sex culture one discovers that this really is not the situation. In the beginning it seems like people going on the second life to have their avatar have brief sexual encounters with the avatars of others. Through several interviews the discovery was made that the majority of people that participate in the sex culture on second life are in committed relationships in their real life.


 * Sex on Second Life**

The sex culture on second life in the beginning seems simplistic, very prevalent, but very straightforward. As one begins to explore second life sex culture in depth one becomes amerced in this world full of virtual pedophilia, fetishism, strip clubs, prostitutes, and vampire sexual cults. The experience of this on second life makes one wonder what these people’s real lives are like and what kind of effects these activities have on their real lives. Through interviews the discovery was made that in many cases that there are very serious effects on the real lives of second life users. Many of the people that engage heavily in second life sex culture spend large sums of their time in world and absent from the real world. In many cases people also spend large sums of money purchasing proper clothing, skin, hair, diamond jewelry, and cars amongst other things to impress other avatars almost in the same manner that occurs in the real world.

In interviews people admitted to spending well over 800 dollars a month in world, that’s American dollars not linden dollars. Considering that the majority of people encountered participating in sex culture on second life are in committed relationships and have families one can only imagine the effect that spending several hours a day in world as well as over 800 dollars a month in world would have on one’s family. Through the interviews another discover was made that many people hide their second life activities and expenses from their significant other and from his or her family.



In second life it seems as though the line between real life and second life is very easily blurred and it seems this is most prevalent among people that engage in sex culture in second life. There is an entire social framework set up, bars to meet people, places to go on dates, places to get married, homes to buy, places to adopt children, and ways to get divorced complete with expensive fees and all. Its almost as if people are recreating their real life in second life, or rather what they want their real life to become. It seems as though the same norms and rules of real life have transferred. When each person first signs up for an account each person is given a bland avatar in which he or she can edit features and appearance. The further each person explores the grid they quickly realizes that the appearance of their avatar is very important. If their avatar is “unattractive” than other avatars react adversely particularly when engaging in a forum for sex culture. It seems strange that in a virtual world with virtual avatars that appearance would be so important because none of it is real. The skins that people can buy for their avatars that make the avatars attractive in a strange way make the avatars real, at least look real.
 * A Hidden Life**



In interviews the realization came quickly that there were many people in world that had lost the line between real life and second life. Some people interviewed made no distinction between what happened in their real life and what happened in second life. The most interesting part of the interviews was when questions were asked about people and whether or not they considered their sexual activities and relationships on second life cheating. The answer was always no, activities on second life do not constitute cheating, this seems to be the only area were there is no confusion of second life and first life however their rational from saying that their sexual activities on second life are not cheating is very often skewed.

One has to wonder if the large presence of sex culture on second life is not doing to the large amount of social norms and constraints placed around real life sex culture. The constraints the Lessig talked about in Free Culture seem to also apply to sex culture in real life. There are so many norms put in place to control people’s actions that it seems only natural that people would look for another outlet. Joel Stein of Time said, “I thought I'd want to have [|lots of sex]. Meaningless, multipartnered, degrading sex. After all, if Second Life is a virtual community in which you can look however you want, do whatever you want and use the fake name you want, then I could make all my fantasies come true.”



Considering the previous statements one also has to consider what kind of social norms and constraints of the real world have spilled over into life in world. In April of last year the Brussels police actually investigated reported rapes in world, [|virtual rapes]. How does one investigate a virtual rape in world, collect virtual fluids? Rape in real life is a violation of one’s body, so does that meant that one’s avatar is an extension of one’s body? Rape on second life is a disturbing experience, however how can this be criminal? If rape on second life is criminal than should there be a second life police force to investigate and enforce criminal laws in second life? A second life crime enforced by real life police begs the question where is the line between real life and second life? If second life activities cause the same feelings in users as real life activities that do virtual rapes cause the same psychological effects as real life rapes?



Sex culture on second life is without question very lucrative for real life individuals. Many real life individuals pay their real life bills and support their real life families from the sex culture and sex trade in second life. Sex culture on second life is so lucrative that it has provoked real world lawsuits over sex programming rights and usage. These [|legal battles] are over very real copyright and theft issues that have led lawyers and investigators to do investigation in world and look for paper trails in second life.

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[|Philip Rosedale], founder and CEO of Linden Lab made the following comment last year about sex culture on second life. "In a lot of ways, the presence of sex as an aspect of creative expression and playful behavior in a place like this is healthy, because it indicates we're doing something right," he said. The presence of sex is also a sign that people are engaging with the community and with each other, and connecting with each other as human beings.” One has to wonder about this comment, can one really say that sex is an activity that causes people to “engage with the community.” The people engaging in sex culture in second life do seem to be engaging with other people in community type places however they seem to be a little one sided and not much about community and more about purely fulfilling one’s own interests. He also states that “people are…connecting with each other as human beings” these people are in a virtual world with virtual avatars having virtual sex, maybe physically connecting…I mean virtually physically connecting, but then that’s not really physical is it? There are those that do foster relationships in second life that sometimes ultimately end in second life marriages, however there are a lot of people that do not, one has to wonder how they could be connecting as human beings. In addition to the idea that people are building virtual communities on second life, one has to wonder what is happening to communities in real life? If everyone is at home logged on the their high-speed Internet engaging in communities in second life soon we would see a compete and total cultural breakdown in real life.



One cannot forget the amount of architecture that is built into the sex culture in second life. Architecture in second life can sometimes inhibit community building. In some sex areas the pose balls are colored pink and blue to represent that male and female positions. In areas that visually signify heterosexual sexual relationships homosexual users are given a visual that signifies that perhaps they are not welcome in that community. Sex on second life is generally contained to certain areas, a lot of areas, but areas that give the user some idea as to what they are either by name or by a series of images places before the entrance. The sex culture involving child avatars seems to have large amounts of architecture to keep people out. One has to wonder how does restrictive architecture with reference to sex culture build community on second life?

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Its amazing that with all the things in the world that have an effect on culture and life that a virtual world filled with virtual avatars would have such a profound influence on life in the real world. Real police investigating virtual crimes and real people married virtually, what’s next virtual divorce dealt with in real courts with real divorce lawyers dividing up virtual assets? Its incredible that a virtual world created by real people via virtual avatars have essentially created a recreation of the real world with some nice extras like flying and appearance changing amongst other things have taken the real world plus and come back and effected the real world from through the virtual world.

Second Life has an incredibly large market for sex culture. With the second life market as large as it is how will it this effect real life sex profiteering? There are universities and companies that have begun talks about doing consumer research in second life particularly with reference to how [|consumers] behave in second life. The consumer research being done in second life is fairly new and will surely yield some interesting results. The results will be particularly interesting, as they would apply to sex culture in second life. Will real life companies sell sexual materials in second life for real life usage? It’s only a matter of time. After all sex culture in second life began as graphic words typed between avatars and now look what it has become.

Second life has come so far and developed in so many ways since its early days. It is curious that second life’s sex culture has developed in to what it is today. After reading Breakthrough one really begins to look at the approach taken and that very much applies to second life. How will we use second life to benefit real life? Can second life be an educational tool, clearly it can but in what ways can it be most useful and how receptive will the general public be to second life. After all second life only has a couple million users, which is no small accomplishment but is a small percentage when you consider how many people live in the world today. What will second life be like with four million users, or a billion users? Will there be avatar sex education classes? Who knows… but I can’t wait to see what second life will grow into because it has been an interesting journey thus far.

Where do second life relationships draw the line? There are continually blurred lines between real and second life that can and have lead to very real life consequences for users. In 2007 the Wall Street Journal did an [|article] on a couple that were facing very serious marital issues due to the husbands avatar relationship in second life. One has to wonder is this cheating? The feelings that go along with the user of second life are very real and the feelings of jealousy for the spouse are also very real. According to the Wall Street Journal “a field of study suggests that the boundary between virtual worlds and reality may be more porous than experts previously imagined.” Is sex with another avatar when you are married in real life adultery? Is having a wife in second life as well as real life polygamy?
 * Relationships**

According to the [|same article]. “Nearly 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their real-life friends, according to a survey of 30,000 gamers conducted by Nick Yee, a recent Ph.D. graduate from Stanford University.” The virtual world seems to continue to change the definition of a friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, and spouse. In a lot of ways the virtual world allows people to have relationships and only take the good parts of the relationships and never have to experience the bad parts. When you participate in a virtual relationship with someone in second life and you live together in a home on the grid you never have to put up with their dirty clothes sitting out on the floor, or look at their dirty dishes laying out on the counter, or go to brush your teeth and see a sink full on whiskers and shaving cream. In many ways virtual relationships are glamorized relationships that allow a user to check all the negative aspects of a relationship at the door. While the use can bypass the negatives of real life human relationships they also do not get to experience some of the good parts of real life relationships. In virtual relationships there is no touch and only a false sense of companionship. When the user logs out he or she is still alone in the room.

The relationships are not real, the sex is not real but the feelings are real. According to the same Wall Street Journal article "People feel bad when something bad happens to their avatar, and they feel quite good when something good happens." For some users there is a total loss or reality, a loss of a sense where virtual life ends and where real life begins. “We can build one system only within another… At certain critical points these systems have to conform with one another or destroy one another. (Berry)” It seems inevitable that the having a marriage or a relationship in a virtual world created within the real world will either conform with one’s single real life or destroy one’s married life. “Family-law [|experts] and marital counselors say they're seeing a growing number of marriages dissolve over virtual infidelity. Cyber affairs don't legally count as adultery unless they cross over into the real world, but they may be cited as grounds for divorce and could be a factor in determining alimony and child custody in some states, according to several legal experts, including Jeff Atkinson, professor at the DePaul University College of Law and author of the American Bar Association's "Guide to Marriage, Divorce and Families." Will virtual relationships destroy real relationships?

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 * Violence and Death**

In September of 2006 a[| murder] occurred related to an online relationship that had turned to online adultery. A 22 year old was shot to death as a result of an online love triangle filled with people deserving one another about their identities. The death of a 22-year-old man brings a cold reality to virtual world. With virtual relationships ending in real divorce and real death resulting from relationships based on deception one has to wonder is there any reality.

While the world may be virtual the feelings are very real and many second lifers have held funerals and memorials to morn the deaths of the avatars of real life people that have passed away. Support groups have been supported to offer support to other avatars as the more the loss of their fellows avatars friends, significant others, or spouses. When a [|high school junior] from Kentucky passed away second lifers set up forums for him as well holding a memorial for his avatar.

Violence in second life is prohibited but it seems that violence in real life has been provoked by activities in second life and other virtual activities. In a virtual world where no one ages, suffers from health issues, or dies it seems that death and violence have infiltrated the world.

Lawrence Lessig, __Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity___ (New York: Penguin, 2004)

Wendell Berry, __The Unsettling of America__ (San Francisco: Sierra Club,1977) 47