The New York Post
May 28th, 1998

CAM-GIRLS AIM TO PLEASE

THEY'RE always out there, watching - millions who go online to catch sight of women doing what women do. Everything from the mundane (brushing teeth, folding clothes, nuzzling the cat) to the racy (climbing out of the shower, removing clothes, nuzzling a boyfriend). Sound like the ultimate invasion of privacy?

Not to Jenni, Ana and dozens of other seemingly ordinary people who expose themselves and their lives on the Internet - and get millions of visitors daily. By setting up "cams" in their living rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms, these women - and a few men - constantly transmit images of themselves onto the World Wide Web, where thousands of viewers watch their every move.

The home-cam trend is coming more and more into the spotlight, thanks to Jim Carrey's highly anticipated new flick, "The Truman Show," which opens next week. "I'm predicting that as soon as "The Truman Show' comes out, people will start saying that I got the idea from Jim Carrey," said Jennifer Ringley, a Web-cam pioneer who started her site, Jennicam (www.jennicam.org), more than 2 years ago. The movie is about a man (Carrey) who comes to the realization that his entire life has been viewed by millions who tune into a 24-hours-a-day television soap opera called, of course, "The Truman Show." After discovering that his parents, friends and everyone in his world is just acting, Carrey seeks to break free from the constant surveillance.

So, why do Jenni and her many imitators seek to showcase every moment of their lives? "For some reason, we think it's OK to watch PBS shows about bison and whales, but not about ourselves," explained Ringley, a 21-year-old web site designer who has turned into a sort of virtual girlfriend to legions of cyber surfers. "I think that's terrible, because we learn a lot by watching ourselves."

But psychologists aren't buying it - and they're convinced that the uncensored cams are potentially big trouble. "If someone decides to kill themselves, they could broadcast it on the Web," said L.A.-based clinical psychologist Robert Butterworth. "Right now, there are just some boring sites, but there will be competition to make things more sensational. People will be able do their own "Jerry Springer Show' at home." Peter Crabb, a social psychologist who studies the effects of video cameras and surveillance, also slammed the phenomenon. "There is a normal need for privacy, and we all need to get away from being viewed or being heard by other people," said the Penn State University-based scholar. Add to that any number of unstable, obsessive viewers who might be compelled to start stalking the women. "When you invite people into your home, there's no telling what the consequences" might be, said Butterworth. "It's high-tech exhibitionism - and you don't always want to be intimate with a lot of impersonal people who have overly rich fantasy lives."

Cam-girl Ana Voog, a Minneapolis-based musician who just released an album named after her web site, Anavoog.com, isn't worried. "Women are stalked whether or not they're in front of a cam," said the 32-year-old, who started her site last August. "I've already been stalked three times, and twice it was by ex-boyfriends. Strangers aren't the ones who stalk you; it's people who were once close to you."

Ringley had a scare earlier this year when she received death threats on the same afternoon that hackers broke into her site and put up photos of mutilated and dismembered bodies. "It was just a couple of 14-year-olds from Wisconsin," she explained, adding that she ignores e-mails from overly ardent fans. She has no plans to turn off the camera. "Frankly, most of the time I forget that the camera is there. The camera is the least-intrusive thing in the world," Ringley said. Nonetheless, there are limits to what they're willing to do on camera. Ringley and her live-in boyfriend, Geofry Glenn, do not have sex in front of the troops.

Nor do Voog and her beau. "It's pretty much me sitting on the couch with my pets or having a lot of really bad hair days," said Voog, explaining that real life rather than sex or a rare glimpse of skin is the key to the sites' popularity. Voog says, "What I want to know is which of the cams Jim Carrey is watching."

By SU AVASTHI