A Request to Stop Sexualizing your promo ads | Voters

A Request to Stop Sexualizing your promo ads

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Jenaia Morane

I have been in SL for over 18 years and continue to be astonished at the way everything from clothing to body parts to furniture is overtly sexual. I would never send a friend to your promo ads (just watched one on FB that shocked me) to encourage them to join because it would offend them. Heck I am offended and I didn’t think that was possible anymore. Don’t you realize you are shooting yourself in the foot - that you are putting people off? Do you need some help crafting ads that are genuinely beautiful and spotlight SL’s real attractions? If so let me know. I’m not saying sexuality is a part of or should be ignored in SL but those elements pale beside the sheer creative brilliance that SL residents demonstrate daily. Please feature those in your ads. Sincerely, Jenaia Morane (Jena Ball)

April 21, 2026

JoellaJean Resident

I'd like to give my opinion based on a more fresh perspective. I knew about Second Life for a long time before I joined back in 2018. From the outside looking in I saw nothing but sexual and sexualized information surrounding Second Life. I never went looking for it. It just found me here and there through Facebook and other social media. And I don't go looking for sexual things on my every day accounts. I had no desire to search any further.

After suffering a hardship in my life I went to SL thinking I was going to look for an AB/DL community or something similar in the effect. If SL was such a otherworldly place as I thought it was, surely something like this must exist within. Maybe there might be others like me that don't focus so heavily on the sexual aspect of the lifestyle and life in general. It was a part of my life I hadn't been able to explore and I thought this side of me could use some attention and allow me some distraction from my ever growing negative thoughts and feelings. What I found blew my mind.

JoellaJean Resident

I am more age regressive than anything. Everyone at some point in their life will say they wish to be a kid again. There are a lot of us that say that and mean it. I never thought in a million years I would ever be able to connect with those kinds of people. There are tens of thousands in the US alone but we stay hidden from the world and each other because adults are expected to display a higher level of maturity than enjoying a Little Golden Book or Bluey. Also because of the negative ideals that stem from quack psychologists that studied a handful of extreme cases and then wrote in medical journals painting us with a broad and very negative brush. 
Second life is so much more than a sexual playground. I found and connected with my people. More than I could have ever imagined. I have been more emotionally stimulated in the past seven years then I have ever in my life. The love and compassion pouring out of these communities is so incredibly beautiful. It leaves me in breathless awe. From SLKid communities to the Sims like neighborhoods to equestrians, bikers, gearheads, first responders, pilots, sailors and charity works that raise hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. It blows me away that all of this actually exists. 
From the outside looking in you see none of this. Had I known these communities existed I would have joined MUCH sooner. I believe there are thousands more out there that would if they only knew. If only we could show the totality of Second Life and how endless the possibilities are to more of the general public. Unfortunately the sensualizing of sexual experiences seems to be all that bubbles to the surface unless you actually know what you're looking for.

Spidey Linden

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Thank you for your input! We appreciate your commitment to Second Life.

AlettaMondragon Resident

Spidey Linden There should be a laughing reaction on this site, too. Any comment on the sex store in the General rated region Green Tech which real life minors have access to?

Shannon Varonia

Spidey LindenIt's not like we didn't see that one coming - so predictable! Shhh gotta protect our interests by quietly sweeping it under the rug lmao

Moo Boo

Spidey Linden Translation: we don't care.

Thanks Linden Labs!

Naroc Resident

AlettaMondragon Resident have you reported that store to linden labs with screen shots? cuss i can tell you right now i have reported unsafe stores on general befoe and they were gone the next buissness day.

JoellaJean Resident

Naroc Resident Took me several months and multiple reports to get a store with nude, anatomically correct bots in it to stop. And this was in a general rated region. They really couldn't care less.

Rowan Amore

Are you referring to Advertisements such as the ones on their Official YouTube page or Facebook?
https://www.youtube.com/Secondlife
https://www.facebook.com/secondlife/
I did not see anything there that was overtly sexualized.  Am I missing something?

ReneMarie Thereian

I have been in SL for over 21 years and I feel offended by the sexual ads and the items miss-represented in the Marketplace. I would prefer to be able to shop for items that are not really sexually related--but labeled as such. When checking out I am bombarded with private parts! Please remove this type from the MP checkout page as well! I am afraid to have any family around me when I shop at the Marketplace! This is really getting to be too much!

Shannon Varonia

ReneMarie Thereian I agree, there should be a way to fully opt out of seeing any of it on MP. Simply choosing G & M or even just G maturity by itself does not guarantee with the current set up. I am sure some creators purposely circumvent the existing measures on purpose to spam unwilling parties there with their filth. Calling Second Life an adult game is no more than an excuse. What are you going to do about it Linden Lab? Of course - what you are best at as always ……..Nothing!!

Otoa Kiyori

I like diversity of SL and I love the wide choices each of us residents are allowed make in SL, so almost anything should be welcomed and I don't have like what others likes in SL (vice versa)

But.. I think the balance is off ... off toward visually flashy explicit contents and desensitization, away from curiosity, meaning and depth in experiences

Irishk9 Aeon

SL is a victim of good graphics on this topic. Before it was visually impressive, it was a very different platform that appealed to a different audience. Building, adventure & exploration was more to the fore in those days. Platforms & applications like Minecraft, Cities Skylines & many more serve that purpose these days for a fraction of the cost. Many hang on with SL for nostalgic reasons from the past, rather than what it currently is. Theres an awkwardness in the whole scenario these days.

Garnet Psaltery

I haven't been following the Second Life page on FB but I went to look today and was generally pleased with the postings. The one from 3rd April made me want to create some new alts just to experience a couple of the new first-experience places. I did notice that almost all avatars were good-looking young humans, which I suppose is widely appealing. Were you looking at the official channel? I do agree with you about the level of overt sexuality in ads and in products generally, though. It's tiresome.

Beatrice Voxel

As long as the listings carry the appropriate ratings (and the Marketplace respects your filters) I do not see a problem with things as they stand. Maybe less AI-generated slop (ads as well as products) but that's a separate issue.

If they don't carry the appropriate ratings, then there's a Report button specifically to address that issue.

SkyeRyder Varriale

Agree, and over all LL has always been this way not asking or caring about what the clients want. The only thing that excites them is something that they think is new and edgy, while the rest of us think it's a step backward. As a home builder I hate EEP, it changes the coloring inside homes from what I intended, and it confuses shadowing which drives me crazy. As for PBR, I'm seeing it applied by creators in a way that makes no sense at all and for the most part, the benefits are not really adding up...and don't get me started on the water around the regions. What used to look like realistic, beautiful water now looks like a muddy putty texture I can't seem to fix. On another note, some of you have expressed that Second Life should not be limited in content. Well, ok, I have nothing against sexual diversity between rl ADULTS but I don't think it's been seriously monitored or regulated. Just a few weeks ago there was an ad showing a woman being tortured in chains and this was in "moderate". I get it, some people get off on it but keep it where it belongs.

Zanya Resident

If you really want a safe, G-rated version of SL I suggest you start using Meta, because they tried so hard to make that they didn't even allow avatars to have lower-bodies. Look how well that went for them?

I have been a part of several non-kink SL communities over the years and the one thing they have in common is they're dying, literally. I've been to a dozen funerals in this world in the last decade and welcomed far fewer new faces. SL's saving grace, the thing that actually makes it attractive and brings new users in, is the ability to experiment with your sex, gender, and whatever weird fetishes you have in a safe environment free of judgement, and are expressions of "creative brilliance" every bit as valid as whatever family-friendly wonder you can think of.

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