I would like to open up discussion about the latest phenomenon, IMVU. For those of you who don't know, its similar to Second Life however it seems to be targeting young people. For young people who often spend a lot of time in online communities, playing online games, and instant messaging, IMVU opens a door to a whole new experience.
I am hoping to hear from IMVU users about their experiences, good or bad. I hope other people wade into this discussion as well because I think IMVU will become very popular.
Thanks
Detective Randy Wickins
Alberta Integrated Child Exploitation Team
Alberta, Canada
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Detective Randy Wickins
Edmonton Police Service
Alberta Integrated Child Exploitation Team
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IMVU User
Posts:
5
From:
Canada
Registered:
9/5/07
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(8 of 473)
Sep 14, 2007 1:42 PM
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Hello, I'm also an IMVU user (I am a pro developer there)
I am also from Edmonton, Alberta.
I have been there for about a year now. There was a period where it got what I would call "skanky" There were some developers making very questionable content. IMVU has been working hard to clean it up. IMVU has tried to make it a safe place for anyone 13 and up, but the adult element is there as well. I know they are trying to work on ways to keep the Access Pass content out of the hands of minors. I know the Access Pass councel and the Creative Content Councel are working with them on ways this can be done.
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Maureen
Posts:
667
Registered:
6/13/07
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(7 of 473)
Sep 2, 2007 8:06 AM
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Welcome Smoothiemeister, and thanks for posting. I look forward to hearing more from you!
Maureen Kochan
ConnectSafely forum manager
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Smoothiemeister
Posts:
2
From:
Sheffield
Registered:
9/2/07
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(6 of 473)
Sep 2, 2007 7:43 AM
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Hi, I'm an IMVU user and I'm 18 years old. I've used IMVU since early 2006, but haven't used the 'Chat Now' feature very often, since I use the program mainly to chat with the same contacts that I have on MSN Messenger. I would like to point out that there is a 'report abuse' button in the corner of every chat window. I was just looking through different websites related to IMVU to learn a bit more about the different features when I saw this forum, so I bookmarked the page incase I could contribute to the discussion :D I'll check back a few times for replies or questions anyway.
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NBForrest
Posts:
17
From:
USA
Registered:
8/28/07
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(5 of 473)
Aug 28, 2007 2:10 PM
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As an adult that has also used imvu I can say without a doubt that imvu is extremely unsuitable for anyone under 18.I no longer use imvu but i have tried it for about 3 1/2 months (march 2007-july 2007)I was very disturbed not only with the sexual content but also with the violent content.It is extremely disturbing that IMVU does not make any attempt to verify users ages.although imvu states that a user must be 13 or older to join anyone of any age can join simply by inputting a birthdate of their choice in the appropriate box when the join.a child of 8 or 9 can join and input a birthdate that indicates that they are 20 and conversely a 40 year old user could input a birthdate that indicates they are 14.IMVU INC does nothing to verify if indeed the user has declared their true age.After joining users are given free credits and access to a catalog that includes items such as animated "blood covered torture walls" and "bloody baseball bats" that they can buy and use against other avatars.In my opinion imvu should be shut down for "maintaining a public mental health hazard"
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Anne
Posts:
507
Registered:
6/26/06
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(4 of 473)
Dec 17, 2006 2:02 PM
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Thanks for your perspective, destructiox - great to get the view from someone who's spent time there! All best,
Anne
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Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director
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Destructiox
Posts:
1
From:
England. XD
Registered:
12/16/06
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(3 of 473)
Dec 16, 2006 12:48 PM
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Hey, I saw this thread and immediately decided to add my expertise into IMVU, however slight it may be. I used the program in question for a grand total of 5 or 6 weeks, and although I personally no longer use it, i believe that unless there has been a fair few safety upgrades, i feel it is not too secure for teenagers, it all depends on Naivety (sp?) Although arguably all online blogs are only safe because of the awareness of possible breach of personal safety and comfort, i believe this one to be more misleading. I say this as with IMVU, there is (to my knowledge) a way to make your avatar look older, misleading many people from the start. Also there is a random chat button (although the button is not called exactly that) which places you in a chat with a pure stranger, and about 90% of the time that stranger will have an avatar of the other gender. While of course in most cases this is no problem, I fear the abuse of this random chat feature. Although personally i have good experiences through that feature the few times i use it (I now have a good female friend in italy) You may tell by the way i speak i am not one to put trust in strangers. I hope my spluttering gibberish has helped in some form  (Although it probably hasn't and i apologize if that is the case XD) -- Edited by Destructiox at 12/16/2006 12:51 PM |
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Anne
Posts:
507
Registered:
6/26/06
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(2 of 473)
Dec 11, 2006 12:38 PM
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Thanks so much for the heads-up about IMVU, Det. Wickins. It's interesting to me that, wearing my NetFamilyNews editor hat, I've seen so little in the tech-news media about IMVU. I wonder if it's more popular where you are in Canada! Wired News looked into this instant-messaging-with-avatars service. It appears to be in the space between IM and virtual worlds like There.com or Teen Second Life - making IM more gamelike (with figures that represent oneself) but not going so far as to create a whole role-playing game around the avatars. It's kind of just animated chat. Which, of course, can have a downside. IMVU's terms say nothing about nudity, but they do say sexually explicit material is not allowed. They also say, however, that IMVU does not police the chat or content submitted to its site. It also says 13 is the minimum age, and people 13-17 who sign up are required to have parental permission (it doesn't appear this is enforced). So, like everything on the user-driven Web, most of the content and communications are probably fine, but some not - or at least not age-appropriate for minors, as many parents would view it. Parents would want to know about this service and AIM's SuperBuddies as much as about virtual worlds teens use. Here's an interview with Will Harvey, the creator of IMVU (also a founder of the There.com virtual world).
Has anyone in this community spent time in There, Teen Second Life, or using avatar IM - or have a teenager who has? Would like to hear from you.
Anne
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Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director |
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RW
Posts:
4
From:
Edmonton
Registered:
7/18/06
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(1 of 473)
Dec 10, 2006 7:29 AM
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I would like to open up discussion about the latest phenomenon, IMVU. For those of you who don't know, its similar to Second Life however it seems to be targeting young people. For young people who often spend a lot of time in online communities, playing online games, and instant messaging, IMVU opens a door to a whole new experience.
I am hoping to hear from IMVU users about their experiences, good or bad. I hope other people wade into this discussion as well because I think IMVU will become very popular.
Thanks
Detective Randy Wickins
Alberta Integrated Child Exploitation Team
Alberta, Canada
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Detective Randy Wickins
Edmonton Police Service
Alberta Integrated Child Exploitation Team
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