What Brands Can Learn From The FTC Virtual World Report

Today’s Ypulse Youth Advisory Post is from Chase Straight. As a twenty-something who works for an online community management and moderation company, I asked Chase to respond to the recent FTC report on virtual worlds. Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com…or just leave a comment.

What Brands Can Learn From The FTC Virtual World Report
Online virtual worlds are unquestionably growing in popularity for kids, teens and adults. Kids are flocking to sites like Club Penguin, WeeWorld and Stardoll while adult virtual worlds like Second Life are beginning to reestablish mainstream legitimacy. After a year in which the sale of virtual goods was projected to surpass a billion dollars in the United States alone, the Federal Trade Commission was charged by Congress to investigate a sample of virtual environments like these for explicit content and their availability to underage users. Their report, titled “Virtual Worlds and Kids: Mapping the Risks,” found that virtual worlds still have a long way to go to protect minors from inappropriate content.

As online child safety expert Anne Collier put it, “This is pioneering work on the part of the US government.” The virtual world landscape is a relatively fresh environment and there is a lot of room for research. Her article from NetFamilyNews.org acknowledges that there are challenges just defining what a “virtual world” and even “content” is. However, The FTC report brings to light the challenges facing companies trying to cash in on the virtual world phenomenon.

Unlike traditional pre-packaged products, online virtual worlds are driven partially (and sometimes primarily) by user-generated content. Since brands aren’t the only ones putting content into a world, they have a societal responsibility to regulate it — certainly for teens and especially areas where children have access. Brands have a business reason for safeguarding minors from harmful material as well. One bad incident can kill revenue quicker than you can say Mattel.

The first step any potential user will face when trying to access a virtual world is registration. The report recommends that virtual worlds “use more effective age-screening mechanisms to prevent children from registering in adult virtual worlds.” The report found that in some of the virtual worlds examined, users were able to successfully re-register after originally inputting a invalid age. This is just one of a myriad of problems discovered with the age verification processes for these virtual worlds. In my own encounters I’ve found a number of teen/tween virtual worlds that seem to encourage registrants to input an older age in an effort to access “better” content.

Second Life has a brilliant registration method that directs younger users to an age-segregated world (Teen Second Life) and places a cookie in their computer that blocks multiple registration attempts. The brilliance behind this prevents younger age groups from mingling with older age groups in virtual worlds. But unfortunately, safeguarding the registration process does not completely prevent inappropriate content from entering the world.

One alarming finding in the report is that some teen and tween based worlds were not employing a chat filter. Whether its blocking certain words or phrases or only allowing pre-approved ones, a chat filter should be a basic element for virtual worlds with a younger demographic. There are different approaches for using a chat filter but brands should ensure that an effective one is in place. I’m a personal fan of Crisp’s Netmoderator, a tool that is used in addition to a chat filter. Netmoderator not only filters content but examines it in context to make recommendations regarding bullying or other inappropriate text.

Ultimately, technology means little without being used in conjunction with human expertise. Companies like the one I work for, Metaverse Mod Squad,  were formed out of the necessity for online environments to be monitored by highly trained, professional moderators. It’s good to see that a few years later the FTC is ringing this bell as well. The report specifically states that virtual worlds should “employ a staff of specially trained moderators who are equipped to take swift action against rule violations.”

Izzy Neis, Director of User Engagement at Gazillion Entertainment and a renowned online child safety expert, enthusiastically responded to this charge on her personal blog.

Regarding the necessity of human moderation she says, “No amount of cheating or pinching the system is going to replace the expense [of moderation] without putting your audience or your brand at risk, unless you employ full restrictions.”

Neis follows up by saying, of course, you can’t employ full restrictions. Full restrictions means eliminating everything that makes a virtual world magical and personal (user generated content). Moderators are the gatekeepers to allowing content to reach children, the human filter protecting youths as they play online. For safety, moderators play the dual role of being a frontline defense along with educating and guiding users to be able to moderate their own environment.

When all is said and done, one of the most effective weapons against exposing children to explicit content in virtual worlds is careful community building and management. Too often we’ll see virtual worlds with rampant bullying and vulgar language. Like kids on the street with no direction, many will turn to destructive behavior for lack of anything better to do. Establishing specific community guidelines and rewarding users for adhering to and promoting them creates an environment where explicit content and harmful behavior is not tolerated. Without anything to feed off of, the unwanted submissions leave to find another venue.

While the FTC’s billing of the report comes across a little sensationalized I found their observations and recommendations to be surprisingly astute. As online virtual worlds continue to grow in popularity, brands will have to take a better look at the safety measures they need to have in place to be a responsible brand. Parents will also need to be informed of the measures their children’s favorite sites are taking. I’m excited to see what kind of impact this report will have on the industry and how brands will respond to the call to protect the youth as they navigate a fast paced, still growing environment.

About Chase

Chase works for a online community management and moderation company. He recently moved to Dallas, TX and serves as Head of Community for an online virtual world for kids. A former journalism major at the University of Utah, he wrote feature articles and album reviews for a music and art magazine. He is fascinated and constantly amazed with how children create and interact online. Aside from his work, Chase is an avid gamer, blogger, live music lover and audiophile who is obsessed with discovering new music and building his already extensive collection. Oh, and he really likes pandas.  (You can also find him blogging about virtual worlds on his company’s blog at metaversemodsquad.com/blog)