Below is a summary report of my Second Life / Real Life identity and privacy survey from August, with nearly 800 respondents completing the online survey.* I’ll publish a full report and commentary on these findings on www.canarybeck.com next week.

For both genders, Second Life-based stalking/harassment has led to phone calls (5% of the time) and even real life confrontations (2% of the time).

Young women (between 18-29) are far more likely to be harassed/stalked than any other demographic.

Nearly twice as many men 36% reported not being harassed or stalked - only 16% of women reported the same.

Women report being harassed and stalked far more than men do in Second Life: 60% versus 44%.

Only 1 in 4 Second Life users take active steps to protect their real life privacy

Here’s some of the key findings from this survey:

Second Life users often raise concerns about maintaining a separation between their avatar and their real life identity, but an extensive survey of SLers paints a more complex picture. Only a minority of users surveyed take proactive measures to keep their SL and RL separate. And remarkably, while women are much likelier to be harassed or stalked in Second Life (a common trend for online communities), they are also less reticent about sharing some of their real life details in SL.

Women take fewer privacy measures than men do in Second Life

In general, most respondents (76%) do not use use online privacy measures with regard to their Second Life identity. Men are more likely (27%) than women (23%) to use privacy measures. 44% of men and 42% of women do not use websites that ask for their real name. 50% of men and 37% of women report taking non-specific measures to mask their identity online. 46% of men and 37% of women give inaccurate information about themselves. One of the few measures where women marginally exceed men was in using temporary usernames and email addresses, with 38% of women doing so, and only 35% of men doing so.

Women share more RL identifying information than men do in Second Life

It’s not surprising that most respondents do not share any information at all (50%), followed by those who share real life information privately (35%) and then by those who share real life information publicly (14%).

Men, however, share less than women, with 56% sharing nothing at all (compared to 49% of women), 31% sharing privately (compared to 37% of women), and 14% sharing publicly (compared to 15% of women). In summary, women are more likely to share across the board, but especially privately.

One significant and surprising difference between men and women is that women are much more likely (57%) to privately share their mobile phone than men are (36%). This follows the trend of women sharing more, but is significant in that it is the piece of information that women will most likely share privately, whereas men are most likely to share their industry / occupation.

Men are less private than women in only 3 areas: They are 5% more likely to share the real life groups/organisations they belong to, they are 4% more likely to share their employer / occupation, and they are 1% more likely to share their real life email address. They are significantly more private about mobile numbers (21% less likely to share than women), photos (19% less likely to share than women), date of birth (16% less likely to share than women) and first name (15% less likely to share than women).

All respondents are most likely to publicly share their first names (33%), 33% have shared real life photographs, 27% have shared their date of birth and 27% have shared their industry / occupation.

All respondents are least likely to publicly share their home telephone numbers (1%) and their home addresses (2%). Only 3% of respondents reported publicly sharing their mobile numbers and 7% reported publicly sharing videos of themselves.

The likelihood of sharing breaks down like this:

Rank Information people tend to share publicly (ranked most to least) Information people tend to share privately (ranked most to least) Things people tend not to share (ranked least to most) 1 first name my mobile number my home telephone number 2 photos first name my home address 3 my date of birth photos video of me 4 the industry I work in or job I do the industry I work in or job I do real life groups or organisations I belong to 5 first and last name first and last name things I’ve written under my real life name 6 things I’ve written under my real life name my real life email address my employer in real life / company I work for 7 my employer in real life / company I work for my date of birth my real life email address 8 my real life email address my employer in real life / company I work for my mobile number 9 real life groups or organisations I belong to my home address first and last name 10 video of me video of me my date of birth 11 my mobile number my home telephone number the industry I work in or job I do 12 my home address real life groups or organisations I belong to photos 13 my home telephone number things I’ve written under my real life name first name

Women are more concerned about revealing their Second Life identity with their family, while men are more concerned about their employers and coworkers

12% of respondents are public about their Second Life identity. Again, men are less public (10%) than women (12%).

The top 3 groups all respondents aim to avoid are potential or existing stalkers (15%), people who might criticise, harass or target them (15%), and their employers (11%).

Men, however, report avoiding people who might criticise, harass or target them (14%) most often. Women, on the other hand, cite this as a second concern after avoiding “potential or existing stalkers” (16%).

Women have more focused concerns around emotional safety (over 15% citing both potential and existing stalkers and people who criticize, harass or target them). Men have more practical concerns, but also consider avoiding co-workers (11%) and employers (11%) as relatively more important than women do. Women, instead are aiming to avoid revealing their Second Life identity to their families (11%). Women care about employers and co-workers too, but to a lesser degree: 10% respectively.

Women report being harassed and stalked more than men do in Second Life

55% of Second Life residents reported being stalked or harassed in Second Life. Unsurprisingly, more women reported being harassed or stalked (60%) than men did (44%). In retrospect, I wish I separated and better defined “stalked” and “harassed” in this question. With that said, people have such differing definitions of these terms, it might have also been better to define specific instances of stalking or harassment, which I addressed somewhat in the next question.

Older women take privacy more seriously and harassed less in Second Life

Further, 68% of younger women (18-29) reported being harassed or stalked, compared to 58% of women aged 30-45, and 48% of women 50 to 65. Not coincidentally, women in the older group took more privacy measures (1% more than the average) compared to the other groups. They also shared the least (4% less than the average) identifiable real life information about themselves, than the other groups.

In general, the older women are, the more privacy measures they take, the less they reveal about themselves, and less they report being stalked or harassed. I’ll be digging further into privacy measures, sharing, and harassment by age differences in my full report.

Women report being harassed more often and in more ways than men do

Over twice as many women report having their Second Life accounts compromised (or hacked) (12%) as men do (5%). 22% of women have had their reputation damaged because of something that happened in Second Life, compared to 18% of men reporting the same.

Men exceed women in two areas: More men (19%) report being a victim of a scam in Second Life than women do (18%). Marginally, more men report having had something happen in Second Life that lead them to physical danger (6%) than women do (5%).

The manifestations of harassment and stalking behaviour in Second Life are different for men and women too. Considerably more women (27%) report receiving threatening IMs or notecards, where only 20% of men report receiving the same. 21% of men and 22.17% of women report being targeted via griefing / attacks against their avatar or property. Both men and women report being abused / harassed / stalked over online chat boards (15%), email (7%), phone calls (5%) and in real life confrontations (2%). Women reported all of these methods more often than men did (but not significantly, except for threatening IMs and notecards). Men reported being harassed/stalked an average of 1.5 different ways, where women reported being harassed / stalked an average of 1.8 different ways. Nearly twice as many men (36%) reported not being harassed or stalked, while only 16% of women reported the same.

*About the survey sample

782 respondents completed the online survey between August 10th and August 23rd, 2015. 30 respondents (4%) abandoned the survey before completion. I invited respondents to complete the survey on New World Notes, my personal website, and through social media channels. 99% of respondents reported being Second Life residents. 57% of respondents are located in US and 54% reported being between 30-49 years old. 74% of respondents are women. Of the men completing the survey 51% were between 30-39 years of age, and 30% were between 50-64 years of age. 56% of the women completing the survey were between 30-49, and 26% were between 18-29. 56% of respondents are college graduates (33% attended some college).

Note: I’ll publish a full report and commentary on these findings, including comparisons to how people experiences privacy on the internet in general, on www.canarybeck.com next week.

Canary Beck is an active member of Second Life arts and letters community, and is the founder of the Basilique Performing Arts Company which produces ground-breaking, large-scale, theatrical productions in Second Life. In real life, Becky has a background in behavioral and social psychology, and is the owner and operator of a London-based Internet marketing consultancy.

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