You see, the thing you have to realize, is that IMVU is about as filtered as they could make it, and still keep their function appealing. If you put locks on everything, then no one will ever want to play the game, which is bad business. IMVU is a safe site (much safer than myspace, or any other networking site of that nature) and a lot more filtered and locked and safe. And about the advertising, you see more advertising in a half hour TV show than you do on IMVU. Such sites are an inevitability, and the truth is, it could have been MUCH MUCH MUCH worse than it is.

First of all RaycerX, you must have paid your son access pass. To see all that, if anybody on IMVU is paying for anybody younger than 18 an access pass they would have found that it would have failed. You need to understand the 3D chat world before posting comments u don't know nohthing about. The Doctor if you call yourself a doctor, get in the virtual world explore it a bit before adding your comment. Come on Ppl get with the program, you as an adult need to understand these virtual world before slaming it. Yes, when you don't pay to become a member you can't do the things that a full member can do in virtual world. There are limitations to what you can and cannot see in a virtual world. Now SecondLife might be different, I've been on there and looked around. That is why I had explored IMVU and There.com. Both sites are pretty safe if you always teach your kids to ask A/S/L before chatting with anybody online there are other adults who will watch our for the younger ones making sure they don't get into any trouble. If you had downloaded the messanger part of IMVU you can see the age of the person you added to your buddylist. Yes, every virtual world has a buddylist and some show the real age of the other person your chatting with. Some tweens and teens can by pass the best security on virtual world because they always ask for age. Some kids will lie just to get the virtual world, you as parents should know what chat program they are getting into. So, I believe Raycerx you or your son had paid for the access pass and or possibly lied to raise the age limit to get into the adult virtual chat world. There are some kids that will slam you no matter what, all you have to do is leave the chat room. No sense in sticking around. Learn to deal with it RaycerX sounds like you don't know nothing but to complain about everything. The other thing not everybody hops on the virtual world to have virtual sex, unless that is what you had in mind???

Thanks, Larry. I'm going to explore this a bit further, as Teen Second Life has stronger parameters in terms of grid demarkation; and as we all know there's a big difference between a 'tween' & a teen mucking about with adults in avatar land. Might be worth some research. Many thanks. Keep me posted if you hear anything. Best, Amy

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Using the power of media for positive change

Insightful...I'd queried YPulse on this, for I noticed on imbee, the tween safe site (social media) some of the kids were defecting to IMVU and 'recruiting' kids over there. (e.g. positioning it as 'new/cool/more fun' for early teens.

Anastasia, author of Totally Wired at Ypulse confirmed IMVU is NOT for tweens at all and pointed out the multiple ages (adults/unmoderated etc.) Here's the comment thread http://ypulse.com/archives/2007/03/its_all_about_b.php#comments
(in an unrelated post on Pussycat Dolls which I was editorializing about in this Shaping Youth piece: http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=324

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Amy Jussel,Founder,E.D.
www.ShapingYouth.org

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Edited by Shaping Youth at 04/07/2007 9:50 AM

Re: DA Warns of Dangerous New Chat Room – IMVU.com

First there was MySpace.com, then Runescape, now prosecutors believe the chat room alternatives have taken an alarming turn for the worse. They have literally entered a new dimension. IMUV.com is a new, 3-D environment using animated Avatars. Avatars have generally been an Internet user's representation of himself or herself in the form of a three-dimensional model sometimes used in computer games. IMVU participants design an Avatar which becomes a fully 3D character. They create their own persona and choreograph activities with others they meet in this chat room.

In the last two days District Attorney Investigator Mike Harris has received numerous calls from concerned parents about IMVU.com. In the interactive IMVU environment participants create a profile as in other chat rooms, but they also create how they look, act and interact with others. A quick look at the list of profiles in Colorado alone shows kids aged 11 through their teens, and adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

Participants in IMVU have hundreds of options for their physical attributes including skin color, hair color and style, eyes, brows, hands, etc. They then have hundreds of options for clothing: tops, bottoms, sleepwear, shoes, gloves and accessories. The newly created persona then enters one of
a choice of several “chat” locations, waits to be approached and the visits begin. There are many choices of demeanor and actions such as “flirty”, “bashful” “angry”, and several different types of “hugs” and “kisses”. The characters look like animated kids, boys and girls. To one concerned parent, it appeared that her child was simply playing an interactive game on the computer with dolls.

District Attorney Scott Storey warns, “The use of Avatar animation on this site will make it even more appealing to younger users. It appears to kids to be a perfect world where they can create themselves to look like they want to look and dress like they want to dress. They can direct and star in their own video. In reality it is just one more resource for predators to hide behind a facade as they lure our unsuspecting children.”