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Webcam

Cybersex, computer sex, internet sex or net sex is a virtual sex encounter in which two or more persons connected remotely via a computer network send one another sexually explicit messages describing a sexual experience. It is a form of role-playing in which the participants pretend they are having actual sexual relations. In one iteration, this fantasy sex is accomplished by the participants describing their actions and responding to their chat partners in a mostly written form designed to stimulate their own sexual feelings and fantasies. Cybersex may also be accomplished through the use of avatars in a multiuser software environment. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1503x1662, 259 KB) Summary This image shows a network webcam, the Axis 2100. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1503x1662, 259 KB) Summary This image shows a network webcam, the Axis 2100. ... Virtual sex is a form of non-penetrative sex where two or more people gather together via some form of communications equipment to arouse each other by transmitting sexually explicit messages. ... A computer network is an interconnection of a group of computers. ... Sexually explicit material (video, photography, creative writing) presents sexual content without deliberately obscuring or censoring it. ... In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. ... Sexual behavior is a form of physical intimacy that may be directed to reproduction (one possible goal of sexual intercourse) and/or to the enjoyment of activity involving sexual gratification. ...

Cybersex sometimes includes real life masturbation. The quality of a cybersex encounter typically depends upon the participants' abilities to evoke a vivid, visceral mental picture in the minds of their partners. Imagination and suspension of disbelief are also critically important. Cybersex can occur either within the context of existing or intimate relationships, e.g. among lovers who are geographically separated, or among individuals who have no prior knowledge of one another and meet in virtual spaces or cyberspaces and may even remain anonymous to one another. In some contexts cybersex is enhanced by the use of webcams to transmit real-time video of the partners. For other meanings of this phrase (book and album titles etc. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A typical webcam Webcams are small cameras, (usually, though not always, video cameras) whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video conferencing application. ...

Cybersex is sometimes colloquially called "cybering". Channels used to initiate cybersex are not necessarily exclusively devoted to that subject, and participants in any Internet chat may suddenly receive a message with any possible variation of the text "Wanna cyber?"

Characteristics

Cybersex illustrated by artist Peter Klashorst

Cybersex is commonly performed in Internet chat rooms (such as IRC, talkers or web chats) and on instant messaging systems. It can also be performed using webcams, voice chat systems like Skype, or online games and/or virtual worlds like World of Warcraft and Second Life. The exact definition of cybersex--specifically, whether real-life masturbation must be taking place for the online sex act to count as cybersex--is up for debate.^[1] A chat room or chatroom is a term used primarily by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. ... This article is about Internet Relay Chat. ... A talker is a MUD variant, a communication system precursor to MMORPGs and other virtual worlds such as Second Life. ... // Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab), which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007. ...

Though text-based cybersex has been in practice for decades,^[2] the increased popularity of webcams has raised the number of online partners using two-way video connections to "expose" themselves to each other online--giving the act of cybersex a more visual aspect. There are a number of popular, commercial webcam websites that allow people to openly masturbate on camera while others watch them.^[3] Using similar sites, couples can also perform on camera for the enjoyment of others. A typical webcam Webcams are small cameras, (usually, though not always, video cameras) whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video conferencing application. ...

Cybersex differs from phone sex in that it offers a greater degree of anonymity and allows participants to meet partners more easily. A good deal of cybersex takes place between partners who have just met online. Unlike phone sex, cybersex in chat rooms is rarely commercial. In online worlds like Second Life however, internet sex workers engage in cybersex in exchange for both virtual and real-life currency.^[4] Phone sex refers to sexually explicit conversation between two or more persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy. ... Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab), which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007. ...

One approach to cybering is a simulation of "real" sex, when participants try to make the experience as close to real life as possible, with participants taking turns writing descriptive, sexually explicit passages. Alternatively, it can be considered a form of role playing that allows a couple to experience unusual sexual sensations and carry out sexual experiments they cannot try in reality. Amongst "serious" roleplayers, cybering may occur as part of a larger plot - the characters involved may be lovers or spouses, or a character could be raped to initiate a plotline. In situations like this, the people typing often consider themselves separate entities from the "people" engaging in the sexual acts, much as the author of a novel often does not completely identify with his or her characters. In role-playing, participants adopt characters, or parts, that have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. ...

Cybersex is often ridiculed because the partners frequently have little verifiable knowledge (including gender) about each other. However, since for many the primary point of cybersex is the realistic simulation of sexual activity, this knowledge is not always desired or necessary.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

Since cybersex can satisfy some sexual desires without the risk of sexually transmitted disease or pregnancy, it is a physically safe way for young people to experiment with sexual thoughts and emotions. Additionally, people with long-term ailments (including HIV) can engage in cybersex as a way to safely achieve sexual gratification without putting their partners at risk. Species Human immunodeficiency virus 1 Human immunodeficiency virus 2 Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS, a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections). ...

Cybersex allows "real-life" partners who are physically separated to continue to be sexually intimate. In geographically separated relationships, it can have an important function in sustaining the sexual dimension of a relationship in which the partners see each other only infrequently face to face.

Cybersex can also enhance the role playing aspect of MUDs or MMORPGs, as it can give the characters that people are playing a more lifelike quality. It can be difficult to portray a realistic relationship within a game without addressing the sexual aspects of the relationship for some roleplayers. This article is about a type of online computer game. ... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... Human sexuality is the expression of sexual feelings. ...

It is also fairly frequent in on-line role-playing games, such as rpol, MUDs and MMORPGs, though approval of this activity varies greatly from game to game. Some online social games like Red Light Center are dedicated to cybersex and other adult behaviors. These online games are often called AMMORPGs. Cybersex is sometimes called "mudsex" in MUDs. In TinyMUD variants, particularly MUCKs, the term "TinySex", abbreviated "TS", is very common. Cybersex can be utilised to write co-written original fiction and fanfiction by role-playing in third person. As a direct result the fanfiction is almost always more realistic and sexually arousing, thanks to two people being involved in the process.{^{[citation needed]} It can also be used to gain experience for solo writers who want to write more realistic sex scenes, by exchanging ideas. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about a type of online computer game. ... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... Red Light Center (RLC) is a privately owned Massively Multi-User Reality (sm) site that was made available to the public early in 2006 by Utherverse, Inc. ... AMMORPG stands for Adult Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. ... TinyMUD is the name both of a certain implementation of a Multi-User Dungeon server, and the first MUD run using that implementation. ... Fan fiction (also spelled fanfiction and commonly abbreviated to fanfic) is fiction written by people who enjoy a film, novel, television show or other media work, using the characters and situations developed in it and developing new plots in which to use these characters. ...

It can enable participants to act out fantasies which they would not act out (or perhaps would not even be realistically possible) in real life through roleplaying due to physical or social limitations and potential for misunderstanding, such as extreme BDSM, incest, zoophilia or rape. For other meanings of this phrase (book and album titles etc. ... In roleplaying, participants adopt and act out the role of characters, or parts, that may have personalities, motivations, and backgrounds different from their own. ... Collars are a commonly used symbol of BDSM and can be ornamental or functional. ... Incest is defined as sexual relations between closely related persons (often within the immediate family) such that it is either illegal or socially taboo. ... This article is about zoophilia, the emotional and (optionally) sexual attraction of humans to animals. ...

Cybersex has also been used in therapy to help those who are too shy or are unsure of how to (re)enter the dating and sexual scene. For example, some therapists have clients practice flirting skills and rehearse how to ask for what they want sexually in chat rooms.

Disadvantages and associated problems

Debate continues among moralists on whether cybersex is a form of infidelity. While it does not involve physical contact, critics claim that the powerful emotions involved can cause marital stress, especially when cybersex culminates in an Internet romance. In several known cases Internet adultery became the grounds for which a couple divorced.^{[citation needed]} Look up infidelity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Internet romance (aka cyberlove or elationship) is a situation where two people are having a romantic relationship while communicating through the Internet. ... This article is about the act of adultery. ...

Additionally, the anonymous nature of online chat permits rather cruel pranks. The intimate nature of cybersex may in some cases be rudely shattered by pranksters who solicit cybersex, but with the actual intention to post the logs in public. Many guides for netiquette warn against this.

Therapists report a growing number of patients addicted to this activity^[5], a form of both Internet addiction and sexual addiction, with the standard problems associated with addictive behavior. Computer addiction is a field of psychotherapy that studies impacts of extensive or obsessive computer use on the user/addict. ... Sexual addiction (sexual compulsion)—a postulated form of psychological addiction—is a hotly debated topic with numerous critics and evidence on both sides of the debate. ...

Deviations of social norms

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While the ongoing arguments between the advantages and disadvantages of cyber sex are apparent, there have been attempts to destigmatize the area of, and people who involve themselves in, acts of cyber sex. One of the first such acts to attempt this was the Cyber Sex Championship of 2004 (CSC 2004). While primarily considered a protest against the stigma associated with cyber sex, it has often been ridiculed due to the participation of "geeks", this argument was further enforced due to CSC 2004 being held on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) protocol, on the EFnet network. Users were encouraged to break down the social norms and participate in cyber sex, not only with members of the opposing sex, but any users who felt it was appropriate to join the conversation. The cyber sex was judged by a group of independent users, and the announced winner and runner up were GUiLe` and SPiDeY^ respectively. The nicks, or handles, were permitted to be used instead of the users real names, which has further inflamed the debate of whether or not had positive influence on destigmatizing the act of cyber sex. This article is about Internet Relay Chat. ...

Sexual predators and law enforcement

The relative anonymity of Internet communication may provide encouragement to seek out underage cybersex partners. In the course of such conversations, such individuals sometimes try to send child pornography to others or arrange real-life meetings (see child grooming). Anonymous redirects here. ... Age of consent laws Worldwide While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes,[1] when used with reference to criminal law the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be capable of legally giving informed consent to any... This article is about the act of befriending and influencing a child with the intent of sexually abusing the child. ...

In the United States, police officers sometimes pose as minors in chat rooms in order to bait underage-sexual predators.^[6] On one occasion, an elderly man from Georgia flew into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta to meet what he thought was an underage girl he had met online with whom to have sex, only to meet sheriff's deputies instead. Another time, a teacher from Minnesota was arrested by FBI agents in Yuma, Arizona's airport, after he had arranged online to meet and have sex with what he thought were two eight-year-old girls.^{[citation needed]} This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The term sexual predator is used pejoratively about a person who is seen as obtaining or trying to obtain sexual intercourse in a metaphorically predatory manner. ... Atlanta Airport redirects here. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Largest metro area Minneapolis-St. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...

This practice is sometimes somewhat controversial, and in some cases may be considered a form of entrapment, especially if the accused can prove that they were not intentionally 'grooming' their target, that the enforcer was encouraging them to meet, or that the meeting's intention was non-sexual. For the film, see Entrapment (film). ...

The prevalence of predatory paedophiles in some forms of online communication has attracted many civilians to mislead or troll those trying to groom underaged children. One example is the vigilante group Perverted-Justice.com. A Do not feed the troll image In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who comes into an established community such as an online discussion forum, and posts inflammatory, rude, repetitive or offensive messages designed intentionally to annoy or antagonize the existing members or disrupt the flow of discussion, including... This article is about the act of befriending and influencing a child with the intent of sexually abusing the child. ... Screenshot of the Perverted Justice website[1] Perverted-Justice. ...

Notes

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References and further reading

• Deuel, Nancy R. 1996. Our passionate response to virtual reality. Computer-mediated Communication: Linguistic, Social, and Cross-Cultural Perspectives, p. 129-146. Ed. by Susan C. Herring. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Philadelphia.
• Godson, Suzi 2002. The Sex Book. Cassell Illustrated, London.

See also

• Sexual addiction
• Teledildonics
• Computer-mediated communication

Sexual addiction (sexual compulsion)—a postulated form of psychological addiction—is a hotly debated topic with numerous critics and evidence on both sides of the debate. ... Dildonics are electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer. ... For other uses, see CMC. Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) is defined broadly as any form of human interaction across two or more networked computers. ...

External links

• Dr Date's review of cyber sex