Sexuality in the 3D Internet and its relationship to real-life sexuality

The emerging 3D Internet provides a new medium for cyber-sexuality and a context for conducting empirical research on sexuality in digital environments. This study investigated sexual behaviour and attitudes within Second Life, the most prominent 3D virtual world, and explored the relationship between sexuality in Second Life and sexuality in real life. The results indicate a wide range of common and experimental sexual practices in Second Life, with sexual involvement occurring at faster pace and with a larger number of partners than in real life. In addition, these sexual practices occur in a range of relationship contexts, from brief casual encounters to long-term commitment and virtual marriage. Participants were evenly split on which realm was more sexually satisfying, with many participants indicating that sexuality in Second Life offers greater freedom and less inhibition than in real life. Participants also tended to view the two domains of sexual experience as largely independent, with sexuality in one realm having little effect on sexuality in the other. Overall, these data offer the first detailed description of sexuality in the emerging Immersive Internet and provide a less prurient and deviant view of sexuality in 3D virtual settings than is often depicted in popular media accounts.