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. 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 A computer network is a group of interconnected Computers. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics Sexually explicit material (video photography creative writing presents sexual content without deliberately obscuring or censoring it It is a form of role-playing in which the participants pretend they are having actual sexual relations. In roleplaying, participants adopt and act out the Role of characters, or parts that may have personalities motivations and backgrounds different from Human sexual behavior or different human sexual practices encompass a wide range of activities such as strategies to find or attract partners ( Mating and display 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. An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games a two-dimensional Icon

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. Suspension of disbelief or "willing suspension of disbelief" is an aesthetic theory intended to characterize people's relationships to art 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. Webcams ( web cameras) are small cameras (usually though not always Video cameras, whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant

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?"

Contents 1 Characteristics 2 Advantages and Disadvantages 2.1 Advantages 2.2 Disadvantages and associated problems 2.3 Deviations of social norms 2.3.1 Sexual predators and law enforcement 3 Notes 4 References and further reading 5 See also 6 External links

Characteristics

Cybersex is commonly performed in Internet chat rooms (such as IRC, talkers or web chats) and on instant messaging systems. Peter Klashorst (born February 11, 1957) is a Dutch painter, Sculptor, and Photographer. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by Mass media to describe any form of Synchronous conferencing, occasionally even Asynchronous conferencing Comes from the word Talk. Talkers are chat systems that people use to talk to each other over the Internet. 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. World of Warcraft (commonly acronymed as WoW) is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG Second Life ( abbreviated as SL) and its sister site Teen Second Life are Internet-based 3D Virtual 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]

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. Webcams ( web cameras) are small cameras (usually though not always Video cameras, whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant 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.

Cybersex differs from phone sex in that it offers a greater degree of anonymity and allows participants to meet partners more easily. Phone sex is a type of Virtual sex that refers to sexually explicit conversation between two or more persons via telephone especially when at least one of the participants 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. Second Life ( abbreviated as SL) and its sister site Teen Second Life are Internet-based 3D Virtual ^[4]

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. In roleplaying, participants adopt and act out the Role of characters, or parts that may have personalities motivations and backgrounds different from 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.

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. Human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) is a Lentivirus (a member of the Retrovirus family that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

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. In computer gaming, a MUD ( Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with It can be difficult to portray a realistic relationship within a game without addressing the sexual aspects of the relationship for some roleplayers. Generally speaking human sexuality is how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings

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. A computer role-playing game ( CRPG) is a broad Video game genre originally developed for personal computers and other home computers In computer gaming, a MUD ( Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of A massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) is a genre of Computer role-playing games (CRPGs in which a large number of players interact with Some online social games like Red Light Center are dedicated to cybersex and other adult behaviors. 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. 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. TinyMUD is the name both of a certain implementation of a Multi-User Dungeon server and the first MUD run using that implementation Cybersex can be utilised to write co-written original fiction and fanfiction by role-playing in third person. Fan fiction (alternately referred to as fanfiction, fanfic, FF or fic) is a broadly defined term for Fiction about characters or settings As a direct result the fanfiction is almost always more realistic and sexually arousing, thanks to two people being involved in the process. { It can also be used to gain experience for solo writers who want to write more realistic sex scenes, by exchanging ideas.

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. In roleplaying, participants adopt and act out the Role of characters, or parts that may have personalities motivations and backgrounds different from Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons (often within the immediate family that is illegal or socially Taboo. Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον ( zṓion, "animal" and φιλία ( philia, "friendship" or "love" is a Paraphilia Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person

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. See also Adultery Infidelity can be defined as any violation of the mutually agreed-upon rules or boundaries of a relationship and is a breach of faith in an inter-personal 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. Internet friendships are Friendships between people who have met Online, and in some cases know each other only via the Internet. In several known cases Internet adultery became the grounds for which a couple divorced. Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is

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. Sexual addiction is a controversial term to describe sexual behaviour that is characterized at least by two key features recurrent failure to control the behavior and continuation of the

Deviations of social norms

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.

Sexual predators and law enforcement

The relative anonymity of Internet communication may provide encouragement to seek out underage cybersex partners. Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ανωνυμία, meaning "without a Name " or "namelessness" The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal Statutes when used with in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at In the course of such conversations, such individuals sometimes try to send child pornography to others or arrange real-life meetings (see child grooming). Child grooming, in the context of this article refers to actions deliberately undertaken with the aim of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child in order

In the United States, police officers sometimes pose as minors in chat rooms in order to bait underage-sexual predators. In law enforcement a sting operation is a Deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime The term sexual predator is used pejoratively to describe a person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain Sexual contact with another person in a metaphorically "predatory" ^[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. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers

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. Entrapment is the act of a law enforcement agent in inducing a person to commit an offence which the person would not have or was unlikely to have otherwise committed

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. An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community such as an Child grooming, in the context of this article refers to actions deliberately undertaken with the aim of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child in order One example is the vigilante group Perverted-Justice.com. Perverted Justice Foundation Inc. more commonly known as Perverted-Justice (also known as PeeJ) is a California -based Non-profit organization

Notes

References and further reading

• Deuel, Nancy R. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. 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

External links

• Dr Date's review of cyber sex

Sexual addiction is a controversial term to describe sexual behaviour that is characterized at least by two key features recurrent failure to control the behavior and continuation of the Teledildonics (also known as "cyberdildonics" are electronic Sex toys that can be controlled by a computer Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC is defined as any communicative transaction which occurs through the use of two or more networked computers

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