It may come as a surprise to few, but there is such a thing as “escorting” in Second Life. I’m not here to bash it, judge it nor the people who decide to partake in it as participants, but I did feel the need to open a dialogue about it. Just a friendly reminder: this is my own perspective and not that of ZoHa Islands.

Over the years in Second Life, I was keenly aware that there was a strong consumer base for virtual escorts. There are an unimaginable amount of people who would offer “sexual” services in Second Life via text or voice interactions (of course, coupled with appropriate animated furniture and props), but as of late the “camgirl” end of the spectrum is starting to take over like a brush fire.

If you simply search the term “escorts”, you’ll turn up some incredibly high traffic results. I hopped around to visit a few and almost made this a piece about the individual establishments. However, I realized I needed to speak with a veteran in the industry.

Those of us who have been involved in Second Life know that it’s quite difficult to actually earn a reasonable income in Second Life without a good deal of investment and skills that make you stand out above the rest. Many try, and few succeed. But I sat down with a good friend of mine to discuss her experiences over the years in the “virtual sex industry” that thrives in Second Life.

She’s asked for her identity to be kept private, so we’ll simply call her “Eve”.

Eve has been a virtual sex worker since 2009 and has built herself a client base that is so amazingly strong that her full-time “escorting” earns her enough to make a full time wage in Real Life. It is a bit of a rare case, but Eve has made it into her primary job. She shared some insight as to how the industry has changed over the years.

“When I first started, people were generally content with the option of voice or text. I was mainly a voice escort, meaning there would be no typing. I basically would be going through the sexual experience of choice with a customer from start to ‘finish’ on voice. It paid considerably more and I was comfortable with it, so I decided to spend a bit more time offering those services.

It’s almost gotten to the point where I almost expect the industry to eventually be shut down or regulated in Second Life. In a way, I do hope they move to regulate it, much like how the Skilled Gaming had to be regulated to keep things compliant. It’s very much “anything goes” and really, I have to require that people cam verify to ensure I’m not dealing with anyone nowhere near of age. Yes, I’ve asked for people to hold up proof of ID with cam sessions if I wasn’t 100% sure. To me, that’s much more important than anything.”

I can’t speak for everyone involved in the industry, but Eve’s perspective does beg the question: should there be guidelines around it? While it still seems to be a lucrative industry for many, is it a safe one?

I would love to hear some other thoughts and perspectives surrounding this piece. Make sure to tweet us with your feedback!

Bria Oceanside
ZoHa Blogger/Social Media

Virtual reality is fast becoming the “must have” technology for many, with a slew of new headsets and experiences flooding the tech market this year. However, there has been little discussion as to whether or not this is actually a good thing to indulge in. With all of the games and platforms coming out at a steady pace to stay ahead of the curve, no one is really stopping to question the consequences of the average person stepping into Virtual Reality for too long.

This isn’t a new concern. We have a younger generation developing a lot of this technology without much thought into the long-term effects, knowing that our addiction-prone society would take to it like a moth to a flame.

The Wall Street Journal discussed research done by Stanford University professor Jeremy Bailenson recently where he outlined his discoveries over the past 15 years. His claim is that too much diving into Virtual Reality can, in short, change you psychologically. He states that this is because the experiences can start to alter your sense of reality.

There’s also the more common effects that can even be found with short term use:

“The experience can cause nausea, eyestrain and headaches. Headset makers don’t recommend their devices for children. Samsung and Oculus urge adults to take at least 10-minute breaks every half-hour, and they warn against driving, riding a bike or operating machinery if the user feels odd after a session.”

Prolonged use can also possibly affect hand-eye coordination, balance, and your ability to multitask. It’s also strongly urged that Virtual Reality headsets should not be used in moving vehicles (which could be a feasible issue with mobile-based sets like the Samsung Gear). It’s also strongly urged to NOT be used with children under 13, yet there is a heavy under-13 demographic in the gaming communities.

Some companies are calling for content creators to be responsible about what they put onto the market and ensure that it will be of benefit to the user, rather than contribute to the altered sense of reality. Considering that the Oculus Rift (which is the frontrunner in the market) was developed by a (now) 24-year-old, are we putting too much faith that youth is considering the long-term effects? Or are we setting ourselves up to find ourselves in a very gloomy future where we’re all detached from reality?

We do hear positive stories like Virtual Reality being used to be therapeutic for hospital patients and the elderly population, but with platforms like Sansar being developed in the mad rush to stay relevant….we’re bound to see Virtual Reality become something that will encourage addictive behavior for some and leave many too immersed in it for too long. So, where does the responsibility lie- in the developers, the content creators or the consumers? Are they doing enough to educate people on responsible usage here?

Share your thoughts on the matter- is Virtual Reality all that great for the general population?

Bria Oceanside
ZoHa Blogger/Social Media

I’ve been mulling over this for the past few days after checking on all things Second Life on Twitter and seeing this ad somewhere in my feed:

Now, this isn’t earth-shattering horrible, but what it also isn’t is positive. Hear me out on this one.

Not long ago, it used to be more difficult to find the “innuendo” ads and Second Life was portrayed more as a place for possibility. A place for teaching. A place for business. A place that enabled those who had Real Life limitations. But, as most platforms do, it started focusing more on skirting the more “sexual” themed ads. And I honestly can’t blame Linden Labs solely for this, because a simple search on Google shows we are also doing ourselves a great disservice.

While researching ads, tons of Marketplace listings were all over the place with sexual images, implications of interactions with animals that didn’t involve kosher acts and tons (and I mean tons) of women in lingerie. So, are we pushing Linden Labs to jump on the “sex sells” train?

Don’t get me wrong; I do see ads that are positive in the sense that they’re like “oh, check out this fun place, you can shop and meet people and explore” or “here’s some gorgeous images from some random place”. That’s great, but again, selling us short as a whole.

At the most recent Lab Chat Ebbe took a moment to respond to my question regarding whether or not there would be a focus on promoting the potential for education and other progressive opportunities in Second Life as was once done before the technology was ready. While I appreciate my question being used, it wasn’t actually really answered.

With the release of Sansar coming out, I really don’t want us to go down that slippery slope towards non-users thinking this is another game that promotes hooking up and just general foolishness. What that would do, really, would be of no justice to the amazing potential Second Life has and bring in more folks just aiming to be there for less interesting reasons.

Second Life can empower people, bloom creativity, educate, heal and so much more. There are already enough of us that think that Second Life is “just a game”….so why not try to catch the attention of those who would become advocates; Second Life’s biggest cheerleaders? Why not promote the documentary efforts of some of our most passionate bloggers and vloggers, rather than try to get another person that would come into world screaming “yay, virtual sex”?

Second Life is an amazing place with amazing people in it. We need more of that. It’s 2016, and we clearly have still only scratched the surface of everything we’re capable of doing. It’s a wonderful platform that, in a sense, has the power to impact two worlds at once. So can we see more of the education-centric promotion? More of the positive promotion that would entice businesses and organizations to consider the potential of investing in a virtual world? Maybe it’s time to go back to those roots, because now Second Life is more streamlined and ready to embrace those ventures.

Promote the progressive again, get more progressive people, and maybe we can start to shake this public perception of Second Life being “just another sexualized game”.

Bria Oceanside
ZoHa Blogger/Social Media

I previously wrote about how Second Life needs to be revisited for its potential to enable teaching a massive amount of people at a time, but what about when outside institutions decide to come in world and observe us? Didn’t know it happens?

Establishments like the Association For Psychological Science have long been curious on the ways of our Residents, often immersing themselves in Second Life to really get a feel of what the people are like (also, like this Rider University student, they chronicled their experiences for research papers)- but their positive revelations are far more pro-Second-Life than the gossipy style magazines that tend to put out uneducated perspectives on how things “really” are in Second Life for the sake of sensationalism- because negative media sells.

But in more recent years there seems to be more of a push for positive insight and journalism. With the efforts of people like Jo Yardley, Draxtor Despres and Strawberry Singh dominating blogs and online media with their Second Life-centric content, it’s causing people to stop and reconsider listening to the negative spouting of those who still try to peg Second Life as a “smut filled world”. With their insightful, driven and well-rounded perspectives it just begs the question: should I just log in and see for myself?

With the advancement of Second Life’s technology since the 2007-2009 years, one can hope that we start to rebuild the steam towards encouraging offline establishments to take a deep dive into Second Life and find out more about why our beloved “home” is a glorious one indeed. It’s far too complex now to just summarize in a simple psychological paper. It’s far too in depth now for anyone of any credibility to just write it off as a place filled with meaningless sex and twisted people. The opportunities to grow and expand your horizons are everywhere.

I would love to see a revival of our presence in the classrooms, as well as the establishments that utilize it. I’ve said this before, but that push to see Second Life as an educational tool has fizzled out over the years- mainly because (in my perspective) the technology wasn’t where it needed to be. However, we are overdue and beyond ready to make this a “thing” again. So what say you? Are you ready to circle back to the educational tool of the future? Where can you see Second Life being applied with Real Life benefits to those involved?

Bria Oceanside
ZoHa Blogger/Social Media