Bustle Survey Explores Sex Content Potential of Metaverse

Bustle Survey Explores Sex Content Potential of Metaverse

LOS ANGELES — Bustle published today a survey of several experts and sex workers about the potential for virtual adult content in the burgeoning metaverse.

To explore some of the forthcoming possibilities of the metaverse, the female-oriented news and trends site interviewed digital immersive environment pioneers like Second Life’s Philip Rosedale and RD Land’s Angelina Aleksandrovich as well as academics, journalists and sex workers.

Although writer Nona Willis Aronowitz acknowledged that, in practice, the metaverse “may end up being entangled in the same biases and dangers of our current reality,” she noted that in the best-case scenario it has the potential to be “an exciting frontier, both for our sexual imaginations and for the safety and de-stigmatizing of sex workers.”

The initial adoption phase of the technology — most visibly ballyhooed by notoriously sex-averse Mark Zuckerberg and his recently renamed Meta empire — might result in a promising “lag in regulating the sex work that happens in the metaverse,” Willis Aronowitz wrote. “Like earlier versions of the internet, more advanced VR platforms might enjoy a few years of the wild, wild west as legislators struggle to grapple with the changing landscape.”

Speculating that “sex work in a metaverse would simply be an expansion of the marketplace that already exists online,” the writer spoke to people with experience in other versions of online sex work, like former cam performer and current journalist and historian Noelle Perdue.

“Instead of doing custom content, people will create custom experiences,” Perdue told Bustle, describing a more immersive version of platforms where sex workers “can interact with [clients] on a subscriber basis, like OnlyFans or Pornhub Fan Club.”

Historical background was provided by Philip Rosedale, whose early 21st-century digital environment Second Life has been widely acknowledged as a relevant analog and precursor to the current metaverse.

“People were, from the very start, able to sell things to each other or pay for services,” Rosedale told Bustle. “And sex is one of the many services people pay for.”

“Virtual reality opens up so many exciting possibilities for exploring the more surreal elements of fetish and kink,” Perdue added. “There are a lot of fetishes that are not possible to recreate in real life, like a giantess fetish, or hypnotism, or more fantastical, niche desires. Virtual reality provides such an amazing opportunity to actually be in those fantasies in a way that you can’t in [reality].”

Sex worker and advocate Tamika Spellman, from Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive, emphasized that metaverse interactions have the potential to keep providers and creators safe, especially compared to in-person encounters. But Spellman also warned financial issues might act as gatekeeping factors.

“There are some [platforms] where you need to have a major credit card to pay for a space to advertise,” she noted. “Not everybody has that.”

Still, if the metaverse becomes the third coming of the internet as projected by Zuckerberg and other high-tech gurus, sex workers will probably find a way, the article stresses. “Sex work has been around since the Biblical times,” Spellman added. “It’s not going anywhere.”

Angelina Aleksandrovich, founder of sex-focused “multisensory metaverse” RD Land, projected a virtual space where “sex workers can jump into any kind of avatar that the client wants to play with; they can change the world on-demand, play out different scenarios that the clients want.”

For Perdue, the ideal scenario would be for the metaverse to "shake up" IRL stigma "as full-service becomes more normal in a virtual reality space."

To read “Sex Workers Will Probably Be Safer In The Metaverse — If They're Allowed In It,” visit Bustle.com.

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Adult Industry Educational, Networking Platform 'Imperfectly You' Launches

Imperfectly You, an educational and networking platform for adult industry workers, has officially launched.

Segpay to Launch News Network for High-Risk Merchants

Segpay has announced that it will launch the Segpay News Network (SNN) on April 15.

Age Verification Watch: Patching the Holes

This roundup provides an update on the latest news and developments on the age verification front as it impacts the adult industry.

Pineapple Support to Host Autism Spectrum Support Group

Pineapple Support is hosting a free online support group for performers and creators who are, or suspect they may be, on the autism spectrum.

ImLive Launches Revamped Member Loyalty Program

Cam platform ImLive has revamped its member loyalty program.

GoFundMe Set Up for Danny Ferretti's Medical Expenses

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for Fangear founder Danny Ferretti, who requires extensive lung surgery.

Byborg Acquires Cuties AI

Byborg Enterprises has acquired adult artificial intelligence startup Cuties AI.

Irish Government Releases Report on Sex Work Decriminalization Legislation

The Irish government has released a report reviewing a 2017 law that decriminalized sex work across the country.

Texas Bill Would Require Age Verification for Online Sex Toy Sales

A new bill in the Texas state legislature would require online retailers to implement age verification of purchasers before selling “obscene devices” to anyone in that state.

New York Assemblyman Proposes Banning the Term 'Sex Work'

Republican New York Assembly Member Brian Maher has introduced a bill to prohibit the use of the term "sex work" in government documents.

Show More