WebCam and Voice = Sex Acts/Porn in SL?

Personally I prefer the text over voice. Speed isn't what matters. It's being able to track what is said in busy venues!

Plus since LL has no recorded records of voice chat, then there are no logs to use for AR's

And add in the fact there are mute and deaf people that would be excluded from many conversations, text is again my preferred tool

As for not reading emotions into text, there is some of that. But then again, read books or short stories and you will find text can demonstrate a lot of emotion.

Plus when one has to type they have more time to think! Not that many bother, but there is a delay that may stop some from posting in anger.

Plus considering the fact you see far more rudeness and bad behavior in the voice chat than you ever do in text (which is logged).. from simple things like mike lock when eating to all out screaming matches with the kids on voice... not to mention the fact griefers can use voice to get around people having sounds off and say things that they dare not put into chat

I just had to comment on this.

I think webcam and voice sex in SL is one of the most underpriced things around. For that level of intimate exposure girls should charge real world phone sex rates for voice, and at least the prices that webcam sex sites charge. Instead of the usual pittance a lot of girls I have seen in world normally charge.

The girls who do this severely undervalue themselves. Especially when you consider the personal dangers involved in that business.

You seem to hold several opinions which really make me wonder, being a woman myself.

First of all you seem to think that webcams are dangerous for women only. Since there is no physical contact, the only "danger" is having their identity being revealed and their reputation gone, job lost, family destroyed and so on. Do you seriously think this cannot happen to a man? Since there are more males in higher positions I would actually think the exact opposite to be true.

Second you seem to think that it is ok to expose a woman to a danger as long as she gets paid well enough. This is highly disturbing. If you think there is real danger why not banning men from abusing women and outlaw the practice? (which can be argued of RL prostitution for sure, but certainly not about webcams - that just makes me laugh).

The third assumption seems to be that there are no women at all who would just do webcam sex for fun, just because they want it, just like a guy would like it. This sounds like a very old fashioned view of female sexuality in general, where female playfulness simply has no place but the only purpose of female sex being the pleasure of males, even when it means they have to pay for it.

Oh boy this thread is disturbing. :/

There is always a risk for both genders.

I think she is referring to the fact many of the online webcam services likely pay far far more than they make in sl. (I know one commented to me watching one offer webcam at a club before she got booted for spamming that most are like $2/min versus her $2/hour rate)

And you'd be surprised how many here are into the old fire and brimstone values of old...

Well given the photo I saw posted of his avatar he certainly looked the part. Brown hair, white t, blue jeans



Edit: Mitch M ??? o well they all look the same to me =)

Is this thread really disturbing? - I hope so - at least its made me consider the implications of the liberal freedoms touted here. Shooting down a thread or blithe comments really dont "cut it" when we think of the impact that webcams and voice (or any other transmission format) can have. Sure, these things have been around for ages and certainly people must be aware of the dangers inherent in the use of such devices. My intention was not to sound alarmist or prudish about sex or any such matter like that. It was more to question and comment upon the relative ease in which a life could be compromised. It's easy to dismiss reality when we can "fly" in sl. I didnt suggest that I have insight into male/female perceptions of sexuality and our need for sharing with another, and I apologize if "this resident's" manner/previous forum history etc is annoying to some.
Women are exploited. And so are men. Perhaps for some people this is as close as they get to the "sex industry" of reality - contacts (however tenuous) made here can have a far-reaching impact on life in the real world.

if people think men and women are equal in being exploited then you need to look again..
how many woman are running around sl faking they are men?
it's gotten to the point that men have to ask a woman if she will prove she is a woman..
how many woman ask the question to a man if he is a man..do we ask them to prove on video if they are men?
i don't know how many times i have been asked for nude pictures or asked for sex on video or voice.
the ones that want to do it..thats your choice..
to say men are exploited on the same level as women is just crazy.
i don't think woman would have a fear of stalkers if this were the case..
we are plastered on 90% of the things that have to do with the slogan sex sells..
the truth is when we meet a man the first thing is not his crotch we are looking at..
how many men that come up to a woman do not have something in their minds that is programed to do a body scan?

people may think this is offenses but sometimes the truth is offensive.

it's offensive that we can't do anything without feeling like someone is staring us up and down every moment giving a rating of 1 through 10.

you don't have to be undressed or having sex to make someone want you bad enough to find you..there are a lot of lonely people on the net ..a lot are very nice people but some do become obsessive and some do take it as far as they can to get to what they are obsessed with..
sorry men there is no equality on this one..if there were then maybe the problem wouldn't exist.

I never do either...but in my case it's because I'm a coat rack. *sighs*

You're not hanging out in the right places. Try furniture stores.

You'll be surprised at the places and times people want to know who you are in rl... even if you do have a male avatar.

It's more common with the females, where the guys want to be sure they are chasing a girl.

Though I've had it happen to me a couple times, simply due to my dislike of voice.

Some places pressure you to use it, simply because of the mob mentality.

There is no sex in SL. All evidence to the contrary is an evil FIC conspiracy. That is all.

What is disturbing about this thread is that it exists. Webcams are not new, and the risks engendered by using them have not changed by associating the webcammer with an avatar on a poseball. There is nothing new or revolutionary here by people using voice or webcams with SL, and people who don't understand that are generally new to using computers.

Chances are, the people using the webcams for sexual activities were doing it before they ever downloaded SL. It's certainly been going on since at LEAST 1998, as evidenced by Lucrezia's post. That's 10 years. There is no additional danger unless the user invites it, and chances are, they've done it before they ever had an avatar associated with their name.

Well, some of us are on SL on a laptop with their wife watching TV or reading a few feet away. No, voice would be inconvenient because I would be either explaining what was on the earphones or apologizing for getting too loud.

OTOH, the whole voice proves anything idea is ridiculous. I was an alien for a brief while and a dragon a bit longer and used something-Bee that did a good job changing my voice around. I also found out that the little dog program was an easy way to get the Scotties into the room... But anyway, I noticed that a couple of the packs (back then - really haven't seen the web site since I killed the dragon off) were human - guy to female or vice versa. If I were using an alt that everyone didn't know was me, I would probably fire up whatever-Bee, since I really don't want my real voice in some bar in some Gorean backcountry. Who knows, or call it paranoia. Make it a different guy voice. Of course, since I'm a dog in real life, I really do need help with voice...

you are assuming that the people that are doing it for sex are the ones asking for it..
there is no video in sl so there is no SL and video..so with video you step out into programs or chat programs to use video..
there is a difference since ten years ago..more people have the net cams have increased in numbers and easy access to hacking them has increased also..
the net is not a safe place if you walk through it acting like you can't be touched..
SL is safe voice..step outside of it where you can use video and on an unsecure program that is not safe and your odds drop of being safe..i had a cam ten years ago too..there is a big difference from then till now..

you don' have to be having sex to turn someone on in video..you just have to be someone they want..if it is easy enough to find you and they are close enough to you and nutty enough then it can easily happen..
i sure don't go around giving my home address to people i meet in rl ..i'm sure not gonna give it away in an unsecure cam program either..
1998 to 2008 on the net is night and day in difference just like it was from 88 to 98..

Of course, Ceka, but the net has never been a safe place. People have been using webcams - sexually or not - for dog years, what *additional* danger is there now posed to an individual by using it with SL? The dangers exist whether or not SL is in the mix. I don't use a webcam but I do have a mic. Before voice was implemented, people used Skype to talk, and some used webcams. So? If you own a cam and use it, you are subject to the same risks anywhere. Using it with SL is no different.

The danger is someone might enjoy themselves. ho hum. Why is this thread still going on?

ok looking through all your messages there and everyone has a fair point and a point of view, i think the guy was just saying be carefull is all. maybe only use voice with a group you know. I use voice with my SL partner and sometimes yes it spices things up a little, we have alot of fun but i trust him as far as i can. I wouldn't use it for gaining money though. but don't we all buy gestures or objects of a sexual nature of men and womans voices in them. OMG my xcite bed in sl makes worse noises than i would dream of making in voice but someone got paid for making those noises for the bed, and very much appreciated thank you we have a giggle using them. But as for using voice with someone, its not all related to getting yourself off or them, sometimes when you are on an animation its nice to relax and talk with them and yes it is nice to hear the effect that you are having on someone when you talk. Webcams i think you should be a little more carefull with OMG what if one day you find out that it was your dad or something that you have been talking to all this time and its the first time you have used a cam with them hahahhaha to disturbing to think about. But there is porn sites out there on the net all over the place and if people want that sort of thing it's not hard to get hold of, SL isn't to blame it's the pervs using it for the wrong reasons , so yes do be carefull but dont rule out using these things totally it's up to the individuals using them.

Oh no it's not

When I go out to someone who is having a problem with one of my products (like tonight - she'd clicked a button and it changed who cpuld use the thing), it's sooooo much quicker and easier to talk them through it than to type them through it - especially if they also usee voice. It just is.

Wait, you think talking to someone over voice is more tedious and slow than typing individual letters out? That is ludicrious. Explaining the nuances of ANYTHING is better if you can talk it out. Trying to talk someone through a complicated procedure, be it programming or surgery is MUCH better done via voice.

-Blu- (baffled and bewildered)

It's Kitty who said that using voice for it is tedious. I said it's not - it's by far the best way.

Sorry, meant to copy and paste her reply. lol...NOT meant for you....but for Kitty.

-Blu- (here, kitty, kitty, kitty)

Here's the fix for "clothing stuck on skin" problem that can come up:

"Go into your inventory, left-click on your skin (search for "worn" if you don't know where it is), Ctrl-C to copy, then create a new folder and Ctrl-V for paste (just so you can tell the copy apart from the original). Go into the library and do the same for one of the skins there (copy it, then paste it into your inventory) and wear it. Then take everything you're wearing off. Now Edit / Preferences, Network, Clear Cache and relog. When you're back: rebake (Client or Advanced / Character / Rebake Textures), change back into the *copy* of your skin and rebake and you're done"

It took 102 seconds to type that out and that's all the time I would need to spend on the issue, the other person can refer back to what's typed and there's no need to spend any more time on it past that.

When you have someone who's clueless (not meant in a derogatory sense) giving them all that information in one go is pointless (if they're not clueless I could have just typed "make a copy of your skin, wear one from library, clear cache and relog, rebake, wear the copy, rebake and done" which is about 20 seconds' worth); they'll hear a lot of gibberish, won't retain any of it and will just make a mess of it so you're stuck having to explain it step-by-step as they do it which is where it gets tedious and horribly slow.

I actually did talk someone through that one a while back and it took about 10-20 minutes instead of the 2 minutes it would have taken for me to just type it out and even "Open your inventory, left-click on your skin, Ctrl-C to copy, create a new folder and Ctrl-V to paste it there to tell the copy apart from the original" was too much information at the same time and had to be broken down into 5 discrete steps.

So yes, something that takes 5 to 10 times as long is tedious and slow because it's the "in one ear, out the other" fleeting aspect of voice that causes you to have to slow down to the pace the other is capable of with following along.

The compiling the viewer 101 in the shadow draft thread would easily take an hour to talk someone through; you wouldn't want to do that on voice *unless* you were standing there right next to them and could point out where they have to click and what they have to change. There's no benefit to doing it in voice only for either party, it's a waste of time.

Surgery would be a rather silly example, I'd much rather have a doctor that studied a textbook than one who simply listened to the audio version of it. The aspect that does provide immense added value is seeing someone perform something along with a narrative explanation (and obviously practicing it yourself afterwards) but you can't decouple the voice from the actual action there. Torley's video with audio only would be utterly useless, it's the combination of voice and visual material that provides the actual value there, not voice.

In the same way seeing someone build in-world while they're talking is of little value compared to having someone sitting next to you and talking as they go along since you can actually observe their actions rather than merely the result of them.

When it comes to learning or explaining voice is a good supportive medium to highlight things, but just voice by itself has no advantage over text and certainly none that make up for the ability to refer back to text afterward.

Try this, go buy a piece of furniture from Ikea .. you take the instructions and go next door to your neighbors and phone home... now with just voice tell your partner how to put it together.....

Also ask tech support people how easy it is to comunicate with just voice ... "But I don't have a "any" key on my keyboard!!!"

Thats called "poor communication". I've talked people through resetting their mainframe passwords, etc, over a phone. It's a skill. And requires someone with a very good vocabulary as well as a listener who's able to understand "big words".

Ever tried to talk through a complex URL in voice? That alone can take a couple minutes, compared to maybe 5 seconds typing it--or less, if Copy/Paste from the address bar of another browser tab. And the recipient doesn't have to type anything, just click on the URL you send them.

It's also possible for the explainer to save their own text explanations for re-use. Much harder to do that with voice. (I keep meaning to create a gesture or keyboard macro that just spits out the explanation of how to get the Advanced menu on the screen, and another for how to get rid of the app settings files wherever they're hidden by the different OSs.)

There is one phenomenally great use of voice: storytelling. It's just different from literature, and appeals to a different, more primeval part of our brains--the sitting around a fire oral tradition part, I guess. But there remains a place for great spoken stories, something folks like Garrison Keillor and Ira Glass know how to do very well.

As do phone sex workers, one supposes.