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  • Maturity ratings


     

    Maturity ratings overview

    Important: The Second Life maturity ratings are:
    Parcel_lght_G.pngGeneral ("PG" in previous Viewers)
    Parcel_lght_M.pngModerate ("Mature" in previous Viewers)
    Parcel_lght_A.pngAdult

    What are maturity ratings?

    Maturity ratings designate the type of content and behavior allowed in a region and affect search results.

    There are three maturity ratings in Second Life: Parcel_lght_G.pngGeneralParcel_lght_M.pngModerate, and Parcel_lght_A.pngAdult.

    General content is accessible by all Resident accounts, including those owned by individuals who are under 18 years of age.

    Moderate content is accessible by all Resident accounts over the age of 18 by default.

    To access Adult search results and regions, you must choose to activate Adult content in your Preferences and be at least 18 years old.  For more information on how to access adult content, see Accessing Adult land and content.

    Note: Regardless of maturity rating, all content in Second Life must abide by our content guidelines. For the official content guidelines, including examples of prohibited content, please see Content Guidelines.

    General Parcel_lght_G.png

    A region designated General is not allowed to advertise or make available content or activity that is sexually explicit, violent, or depicts nudity.  Sexually-oriented objects such as "sex beds" or poseballs may not be located or sold in General regions.

    General regions are areas where you should feel free to say and do things that you would be comfortable saying and doing in front of your grandmother or a grade school class. Institutions such as universities, conference organizers, and real world businesses may wish to designate their regions as General. Likewise their users (and others) may wish to employ Second Life's General search setting to focus and filter search results appropriately.

    Some landowners and Residents desire a Second Life experience distinct from the activity that occurs in Moderate and Adult regions. Region owners who wish to host this sort of Second Life experience can (but need not) designate their regions as General. 

    If you are a region owner and you feel there is some ambiguity as to whether your content and activities are allowed in General regions, it's probably best to designate your region as Moderate.

    Tip: Bookmark  Community Standards and Second Life Terms and Conditions so you have the overall rules handy!

    Moderate Parcel_lght_M.png

    Second Life's Moderate designation accommodates most of the non-adult activities common in Second Life. Dance clubs, bars, stores and malls, galleries, music venues, beaches, parks, and other spaces for socializing, creating, and learning all support a Moderate designation so long as they do not host publicly promoted adult activities or content and do not use adult search tags. Groups, events and classifieds that relate to this broad range of activities and themes generally should also be designated as Moderate.

    Residents in these spaces should therefore expect to see a variety of themes and content. Stores that sell a range of content that includes some "sexy" clothing or objects can generally reside in Moderate rather than Adult regions. Dance clubs that feature "burlesque" acts can also generally reside in Moderate regions as long as they don't promote sexual conduct, for instance through pose balls (whether in "backrooms" or more visible spaces). However if any of these businesses uses adult-oriented search tags, the region may be categorized as Adult and blocked from appearing in non-Adult search.

    Adult Parcel_lght_A.png

    The Adult designation applies to Second Life regions that host, conduct, or display content that is sexually explicit, intensely violent, or depicts illicit drug use.  A region must be designated Adult if it hosts, advertises, or publicly promotes:

    • Representations of intensely violent acts, for example depicting death, torture, dismemberment or other severe bodily harm, whether or not photo-realistic (meaning that images either are or cannot be distinguished from a photograph).
    • Photo-realistic nudity.
    • Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities, whether or not photo-realistic. We broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct.

    Groups, event listings and classified ads that reference these themes or content must also be designated Adult. Linden Lab will enforce these rules but cannot monitor all ephemeral content and conduct within Second Life. Therefore:

    • Regions, groups, and event or classified ad listings that employ search tags plainly suggestive of adult behavior or content require the Adult designation, and will be viewable only by Residents that have opted-in and are at least 18 years old.
    • Linden Lab will conduct proactive monitoring and rely on abuse reports that identify adult content or conduct that is promoted or advertised publicly. Where adult content or conduct on a region is publicly advertised or promoted, that region must be designated as Adult (or such content must be removed). We will re-designate such regions if adult content is not removed.
    • Linden Lab may take into account whether apparent or reported adult content or conduct in a particular region serves only an extremely limited or passive function, or an important educational or cultural function, and therefore would be appropriate for all Second Life audiences.
    • As with all reported activity in violation of our policies, we will actively review all reports of adult conduct and provide Residents with a channel for rebuttal.

    Parcels that host adult activities or contain adult content must be on:

    • The adult mainland continent, Zindra.
    • A private region that has been designated by its owner as Adult.

    Region owners are responsible for designating a region's maturity level. Occupants of regions will be expected to locate in a region suitable to each occupant's content and conduct.

    For more information on what qualifies as adult content, see Adult Content FAQ.

    Setting your maturity preferences

    Choose Me > Preferences and click on the General tab to choose the maturity rating of content you want to see.  For more information, see Accessing Adult land and content.

    Maturity ratings and media access

    Your own maturity setting, as well as the maturity setting of land parcels near you, can affect your ability to hear sounds and voices.

    Voice and maturity ratings

    Regions that use the Parcel_lght_A.pngAdult maturity rating use a separate estate channel for voice communication. This means that if you are in an Adult region, you can only speak with other Residents who are also in nearby Adult regions. If you are in an Adult region and you stand near the border of a Parcel_lght_G.png General or Parcel_lght_M.png Moderate region, Residents in the other region cannot hear you speak, and you will be unable to hear them speak. Text chat crosses region borders normally, regardless of maturity ratings.

    Note: Group and private voice chats are not affected by region maturity ratings, and always function the same way regardless of your location.

    Gestures, sounds, and maturity ratings

    Gestures and other sounds played in Second Life are handled differently than voice chat; your personal maturity rating determines whether or not you are able to hear sounds originating from a Moderate or Adult region. Your personal maturity rating must meet or exceed the maturity rating on the region you wish to hear sounds from.

    Examples

    • If your rating is set to General, you can only hear sounds and gestures that originate from a region that is also rated General.
    • If your rating is set to Moderate, you can hear sounds and gestures that originate from regions that are rated General or Moderate.
    • If you are at least 18 years old and your maturity rating is set to Adult, you can hear sounds and gestures originating from any nearby region, including Adult regions.

    Parcel media and maturity ratings

    By definition, Land parcel media is confined to the parcel for which it is set. If your avatar is not authorized to enter a land parcel, you cannot view or hear streaming media playing on that parcel.

    Maturity ratings and search

    The Second Life Viewer filters search results based upon your current maturity preferences and the maturity ratings of the discovered content, while the Second Life website shows only results with a General rating.

    Web Search

    You can locate content in Second Life from these web pages:

    • Second Life Search - returns only  Parcel_lght_G.png General results
    • Classifieds - returns only  Parcel_lght_G.png General results
    • Marketplace - returns results based on your chosen maturity level if you are at least 18 years old.
    By default, all results returned on these web pages are for General maturity.

    Second Life Search

    Go to search.secondlife.com or click the Search button on the Second Life website to search for:

    • People
    • Places
    • Events
    • Groups
    • Information on the Second Life Wiki
    • Information on Secondlife.com

    After executing a search, choose a category tab on the left side of the page to filter results. Select Everything to search all categories. Results are ranked on both relevance to your search terms and on popularity of the item. While logged into the Second Life website, you can filter search results for Parcel_lght_G.png General,  Parcel_lght_M.png Moderate,and Parcel_lght_A.png Adult content by checking the respective boxes under the search field.

    Classifieds

    Log into the Second Life website and choose Community > Classifieds to browse the Community Classified ad listings. To narrow results:

    1. Click + More Options.
    2. Select a category from the dropdown.
    3. Select a maturity rating. By default this selection will match your preference in the Viewer.
    4. Click Submit.

    Only General classified ads are shown on the website; use the Viewer to browse Moderate or Adult listings if you are at least 18 years old.

    Marketplace

    When you search for product listings in the Second Life Marketplace, you can set a maturity level to restrict results. For more information, see Shopping in the Marketplace.

    Viewer Search

    Click the Search button on the toolbar to open the Second Life Search window.  Enter a search term and click Search. The window has seven filters both on the left and in the dropdown menu, as shown below:

    search.png

    By default, results for Everything are shown, drawing from People, Places, and Groups. Click on the other tabs to show only results of that type: Classifieds, Events, Destination Guide, Groups, Land & Rentals, People, and Places. Results are ranked according to relevance to the keyword and the popularity of the item. If you are at least 18 years old, you can also search for Adult content in addition to General and Moderate content by checking the appropriate Maturity box at the top left of the Second Life Search window.

    General Content

    If your preferences are set for General and Moderate or General, Moderate, Adult, you can still filter your search for General-only results. Check the Parcel_lght_G.png General box on the search window. Type your search into the search field and click the Search button.

    General content includes listings on a General region that do not contain adult keywords.

    Moderate Content

    To include Moderate content in your search results, check the Parcel_lght_M.png Moderate box in the search window.  Moderate search results includes listings in a Moderate region that do not contain adult keywords.

    Adult Content

    To include adult content in your search results, check the Parcel_lght_A.png Adult box in the search window. Anything on an Adult region is adult content. You must be at least 18 years old in order to search for adult content.

    You can help us refine our adult content filtering by submitting a support request if your listing is being blocked or showing up incorrectly. If you find search results listing objects that do not match General or Moderate search filters, please submit an Abuse Report. If you have objects on General or Moderate land that use adult keywords, those objects should not be shown in search, or they may have Abuse Reports filed against them. 

    Classifieds, Events, Land Sales, Places

    Adult content search is available on these tabs when:

    • You are at least 18 years old.
    • You have enabled your adult preferences.
    • You have checked the Parcel_lght_A.png Adult content box in the search window.

    If you enter an adult term in search without having met the above three criteria, the search system filters this term from the search query and provides results using the remaining terms entered.

    Classifieds and Events Tabs

    New classifieds and events are filtered for maturity content. If you attempt to create a classified or event using adult terms on non-adult land, you will receive an error message. If you find a classified or event listing in an inappropriate maturity category through search, please file an abuse report.

    Land & Rentals and Places Tabs

     On these tabs:

    • Check the Parcel_lght_G.png General box to show only search results in General regions.
    • Check the Parcel_lght_M.png Moderate box to show search results in Moderate regions.
    • Check the Parcel_lght_A.png Adult box to show search results in Adult regions.

    People tab

    The search system does not filter keywords when you search for avatar names or profiles. Information in Resident profiles should be General. Please refer to our Community Standards for details.

    Groups tab

    The search system filters searches in the Groups tab the same way as in an Everything search. Groups can be marked as Moderate or left unchecked for non-Moderate groups. If a group's name or Group Charter uses adult keywords, the group appears only in Adult searches.

    FAQs

    I can't access all of the content checkboxes. Why are they unavailable?

    By default, Resident accounts of those over 18 years of age have access to General and Moderate content. If you are at least 18 years old, you can opt-in to seeing Adult content by setting your preferences to view content with the Adult designation. 

    Account owners who are under the age of 18 only have access to General content.

    I'm getting an error and can only access General content. What do I do?

    If you're seeing the word "Error" on the Second Life Search page next to the maturity checkboxes and only the General checkbox is enabled, and you are not under the age of 18, your Viewer may not have sent the correct authorization token. To reset your authorization, close the Viewer and log back in. If you continue to receive the error, make sure you're using the latest version of the Second Life Viewer before filing a support request.

    Note: Third-party viewers may not support Moderate and Adult searching. For best results, use the official Second Life Viewer published by Linden Lab.

    How do I ensure my objects show up in search with the correct maturity rating?

    Tip: If your land appears in search results at a higher maturity level than you expected, it may be a sign that your content is inappropriate to the maturity rating of your region. Using language that is inappropriate to your region's maturity rating is against Second Life's Terms of Service and can result in disciplinary action.

    Information about the region you're in, including region name, coordinates, maturity, and parcel name are located at the top of your Viewer.

    Region_Info 2.7.1.png

    If your region is listed as General, make sure any objects you set to show in search are also General. If your region is listed as Moderate and you would like to show Moderate objects in search, check the Moderate Content box in the ABOUT LAND window's OPTIONS tab.

    About_Land_Mature_Content 2.7.1.png

    I don't see the Adult option in my Preferences. How do I activate it?

    You must be at least 18 years old to access the Adult setting. If you are 18 years of age or more, and you don't see an Adult option in your Preferences, please see Accessing Adult land and content for more information. You may need to contact our Support team for assistance.




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