Linden Lab Calls Report on Second Life's Adult-Rated Sims "Misleading" -- But the Real Problem is Misleading Use of the Adult Rating

Brett Linden, a member of Linden Lab's marketing team, recently sent me a message about a much-discussed post:

[I wanted] to clarify a detail about your other recent post with the headline that suggests "25% of Second Life Mass Land Now Adult-Rated for Extreme Sex & Violence." As you mention in the article, there are indeed many Adult-rated Regions in Second Life that are not overtly sexual or violent in nature despite that rating. Respectfully, we are a bit concerned that the headline wording might mislead some casual readers to believe that all Adult-rated content actually has "extreme sex & violence" when that is not the case. 

This is true. However, I would argue that the Adult rating as it is often (or even usually) used in Second Life is the thing that's misleading: It confuses many Second Life users, especially new ones, as to what they should expect in an Adult-rated sim. As longtime SLer and blogger Ciaran Laval pointed out in another post, many SLers designate their sim as Adult as a general catch-all which conveys nothing about the sim's content:

[S]ome regions flag themselves as Adult to avoid arguments about content or give themselves more flexibility, rather than being completely Adult-oriented. 

And this is precisely the problem with the Adult rating as it's generally used in Second Life. Look at this way:

From a consumer perspective, it's like paying good money to see a movie that's rated NC-17 , which turns out to have no extreme sex or violence whatsoever. Or just as irksome, paying money to see an unrated movie which, based on its poster and description, looks like a nice, family-friendly indie comedy... and the first scene is a cannibal orgy.

Both phenomena happen all the time in Second Life, draining the Adult rating of any consistency or reliable meaning. However, in either case, this remains true: An Adult-rated sim is one where extreme sexual and violent content is fully permitted, and therefore any consumer visiting such a sim should fully expect it at any time. That's spelled out in Linden Lab's own guidelines:

The Adult designation applies to Second Life regions that host, conduct, or display content that is sexually explicit, intensely violent, or depicts illicit drug use.  A region must be designated Adult if it hosts, advertises, or publicly promotes:

Representations of intensely violent acts, for example depicting death, torture, dismemberment or other severe bodily harm, whether or not photo-realistic (meaning that images either are or cannot be distinguished from a photograph).

Photo-realistic nudity.

Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities, whether or not photo-realistic. We broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct.

So if Linden Lab is really concerned about misleading people, they should look to the actual use and enforcement of their own ratings system.

Comments

[Zoey Mara]

nope your heading was Misleading , the use of the Adult rating only means "Could happen and is allowed" doesnt mean that it will happen. I use the Adult rating on my own land because adult content is allowed by the members but it is not a requirement..equating it to a movie rating is stupid because a movie has a script that it follows to a T no changes there for the rating NC 17 means there will be NC 17 moments in the movie. A sim is not scripted events dont run out the same formula way ....more like a adult club for 18 and older where sometimes an orgy will happen and sometimes nothing at all by clean fun will happen. Big difference.

[Hamlet Au]

"a movie has a script that it follows to a T"

That actually makes the problem worse for Second Life in comparison -- unlike a movie, anything of any content rating level can and does happen in an Adult-rated sim, making the rating itself totally arbitrary in practice and the content expectation totally unpredictable.

[Amanda]

Zoey is correct and your response is nonsensical.

According to the SL Wiki, "Maturity ratings designate the type of content and behavior allowed in a region..."

It's not like the ratings in a movie or computer game which tell you what content is in the movie or game. A SL maturity rating tells what you might encounter in the region. It's not practical to have a rating like a movie or computer game when each avatar is a real person and not an actor or programmed game asset.

[Hamlet Au]

"It's not practical to have a rating"

Yes, that's exactly the point of this post.

[Adeon Writer]

No... it's really misleading. You should change the headline.

[Hamlet Au]

Again, the guidelines say:

"The Adult designation applies to Second Life regions THAT host, conduct, or display content that is sexually explicit, intensely violent, or depicts illicit drug use."

Emphasis mine. THAT, not MAY "host, conduct, or display" extreme content.

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

The guidelines say "THAT" but it's really more "MAY" in practice. Adult rated regions often do have explicit content, but sometimes don't. So yes, your headline was misleading.

[irihapeti]

the way the ratings work for users (how the users themselves apply the ratings to themselves) is that:

"G" means no coarse language anywhere, no nudity in the public view, no sexxors anywhere

"M" means there may be coarse language anywhere, and nudity and sexxors not in the public view

"A" means there may be coarse language anywhere, nudity and sexxors in the public view

the reason why people go for A instead of M rated land is that when we allow the public to access our parcel then the parcel is in the public view. Life can get complicated for the parcel owner when visited by other users roleplaying as the "concern police"

[Pulsar]

"that" is right, because it's followed by a list of "or" (not "and").
«[...] that host, conduct or display content that is[:] sexually explicit, [or] intensely violent, or depicts illicit drug use.»
In the subsequent paragraphs they specify better what each point means. In the case of "sexual explicit", they begin with «photo-realistic nudity» defined as an image that «cannot be distinguished from a photograph», but that's something you can hardly get with this old SL engine, unless it's an actual photo. Indeed Sexy Nude Beach is rated Moderate.
However they specify also «Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities, whether or not photo-realistic»

And the key is: «We broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct.»
The above nude beach, one of the oldest and most popular beaches in SL, doesn't allow sexual conducts nor they have that kind of pose-balls and it remains Moderate. Had it even just beach lounges that allows couples to make love on the beach, that's "sexually explicit" and would makes you rated Adult (like other popular beaches on the destination guide).

So the thing here isn't extreme sex, but really anything sexually themed / explicit, from the simple to extreme. The Adult rating permits any degree, not necessarily the extreme. And indeed there are even places that mark themselves Adult for other reason, but in practice they essentially have no adult content. On the other hand, it's understandable if it can look inconsistent and confusing at times: «Hey, it's an adult place, how comes I'm not allowed to [do something considered adult]?»
If the wording causes some confusion, perhaps Linden Lab should improve it. I'm not sure about the rating though, as it's sexuality itself to be a broad topic. They cover all the cases, plus violence. Ideally I'd like a tag (or multiple tags) that says what's is here, rather than an umbrella that includes anything from a shower with pose balls to that cannibal orgy. I don't think, however, that you should expect extreme stuff in every adult place in SL: usually you can get an idea from the description of the place and each place has their own rules too.

[Norahbrent]

I agree in general. It is confusing. I own a sim meant for hang out and photography. But I rezz some adult furniture. My sim is not sexual nor violent. But I had to rate it adult just in case.

Same goes for PG clubs like Muddy's. Heavily PG on the rules (god forbid a song will have the F word or someone will cuss at the bad day they had on local chat) and yet the sim rated moderate. My guess is that sl just needs more than three ratings for sims.

[sirhc desantis]

In the civilised world I view Mature and Adult to mean : there be grown ups here. Be one as well.

In the US of Puritanica I think it is taken as 'bloodless beheading and multiple body count yay go! but woe betide a nipple Ethel'.

[SSD]

So now you're doubling down on your article? Dude everyone in SL knows it's just easier to set your sim as an adult sim to avoid controversy. By setting your sim to adult you automatically eliminate anyone underage that could potentially shut your place down if one thing isn't G rated. But because the sim is set to adult doesn't mean that everyone is running around having sex whenever they want. I know of only a few places, talking like two of them, that are themed around that. Adult Sims also mean adult humor and adult language. Your title is misleading and they have every right to call you out on it same with everyone here in the article no one is taking your side.

[Galathir Darkstone]

Your title clearly implies that the reason these regions are rated as adult is "for" sex and violence. That IS misleading. You have no empirical evidence for why any significant number of those region owners decided to rate their region as Adult. Are some Adult for graphic sex and extreme violence? Certainly. Just as some are set that way to keep child avis out. And some are set that way just to avoid any potential for broken ToS in the event something that qualifies as Adult happens there. The Lab's point was that your title makes an assumptive statement and presents it as factual. And they are correct. Your assertions to the contrary are just flat wrong.

[Jessica]

I know that many people won't agree with me on this but here goes....

In general I feel that it's not a very good environment for women. When I first started, I got quite a few IM's with the same questions, "where are you from" and "how old are you".

In fact one long term user lectured me about not being allowed on adult sims if they felt I was underage. It was patronizing to say the least. I'm a fun loving person who likes to be creative so the adult content isn't for me. I don't really appreciate it being pushed on me all the time.

I overheard a young sounding woman being told to leave the Sim and this guy was screaming at her. It was a "moderate" zone.

In general, it's an over sexualized environment. I'm not against a little raciness here and there, I just think there is a place for it. I don't go to adult rated Sims because I'm just not interested.

It's a shame that so much content is pretty much pornographic. There used to be a wider variety of offerings when a younger cohort was allowed in the general and moderate zones and there were universities and charitable foundations.

I think that what Second Life should do is verify age for Adult Sims and leave the rest open for younger people. It might even be an environment that is friendlier to women too. I have no beef with teenagers but I hate the behaviour of some of the creepy men there. That's my opinion based on my experience there.