Overview:
With technology as advanced as it today, many aspects of our day-to-day lives differ significantly from how they were five, ten, and fifteen years ago. Sure, you used to hang out with your drunken uncles and watch the Super Bowl on a modestly sized television set. If you missed an epic pass because you were cleaning up some chips that Lil' Johnny crushed into the floor in a desperate plea for attention, you were fucked. Now, in the year 2009, you can simply mash your remote control buttons, sending a signal to your TiVo box that will cause it to zip back and replay the pass as many times as you want. Not only that, but if you're as technologically enabled as some people, you wouldn't be performing such an antiquated task and sweeping the floor; your Roomba (floor cleaning robot) would've done it for you. Sex, too, has changed, almost unbelievably so, with the advent of new technologies. Disregarding the advances in pornography production and distribution, the sex industry is almost completely different than it was in the early 90s. Fleshlights, Real Dolls, Real Touch devices...all the industry buzzwords are now, more than ever before, technology based. While webcams have existed since 1991, they're only now starting to be used as widely as the hardware and software engineers who designed the original CoffeeCam had hoped. People all over the world are turning on their cameras and baring all for each other's sexual gratification. From instant message programs like AOL, MSN, and Skype to cell-phone-based video broadcasting, anyone, anywhere can now show anyone else just how horny they are. If current trends are any indication, "U like bbe? I hrny and need coc!" will soon be the universal language of love. OMG.

I'm Live (or is it IM Live?) is a website that hosts a community of live webcammers, all of whom are "experts" in various sexual fields, from relationship advice to simply talking dirty and getting you off. Funnily enough, all of these experts seem to prefer dressing in lingerie, bikinis, or tight, short outfits that leave just a little to the imagination. I'm Live members buy credits ($1 each) and spend them on live webcam shows put on by thousands of women, men, couples, and groups from all corners of the globe. Ah, the delights of the information superhighway! Costs vary from performer to performer and range from $1 to $10 a minute. You'll find most of this information in I'm Live's FAQ, but really, all you need to do to get started is take a look at the main members' page. There you'll find categories of cam shows, including Girl Alone, Shy Girl Alone, Fetish & BDSM, gay and straight couples, Threesomes/Groups, Shemales (and couples), and Guy Alone (both straight and gay). There are also over 100 Celebrity Porn Stars that do live cam shows on I'm Live, including Jill Kelly, Charlie Laine, Hilary Scott, and my favorite tattooed ass-fanatic Joanna Angel. If you click on a category, you'll be able to see a small portrait shot of each performer, their name, their online status (I'm Live or Offline), the description they've given of themselves and their show, as well as links to archived snapshots, videos, and studio photos.

As I've always had a thing for shy girls, I decided to check out the performers brave enough to get online in the first place, but too timid to be classed with all the other stars. Most performers will allow you to engage them in a free text chat, but it's usually pretty dull in there. One of the girls I checked out, MikaLily, was a skinny 18-year-old with a crazily colored punk hairstyle. She didn't appear to be lacking in spunk, yet was categorized as a Shy Girl Alone. She had just gone offline when I tried to enter her video chat, so I decided to take a gander at her Video Library. The clips you'll find in such libraries may only be the size of a standard webcam feed (approx 320x240 pixels), but hey, it's better than beating off to whatever your exhausted imagination can dream up.

When you do make it into a live room with a performer, you can often ask them to do whatever you desire and they'll comply. If you're in a Dominatrix's room, however, you'll have to work pretty hard, obeying their every command and hoping for a payoff - unless, of course, you consider being dominated the payoff. Joining a couples room can have you finding them in the middle of a heavy duty fuck session - or you may have to gradually coax them into foreplay, then sex, telling them exactly what you like along the way. After spending a little time (and a ton of money, which I'll get to soon) with different cam performers, I can see how it'd be easy and enjoyable to strike up some kind of absurd cyber-relationship where they remember you and don't need to be reminded of your fondness for nipple pinching (or whatever your bag is). One way to make this easier is by using your webcam, allowing them to watch you as you sit, cock in hand (or not), talking them through your ultimate fantasy and asking them to play along with you. Most of the performers I encountered wanted to see me but, being the shy type, I couldn't muster the courage to show myself or my throbbing member to anyone...at least, not yet.

I'm Live certainly offers a thrilling service, connecting you with other hot and horny people - professional people, at that - around the world and allowing you to essentially purchase sexual entertainment from them on a face-to-face platform. What frustrates me - and most other members, I'm sure - is the cost. My $25 didn't last very long at all. I had very brief chats with about six different women, men, and couples, and now I'm down to a measly 12 cents of folding money. Although I'm Live has limits on how much you can spend in one day and one month ($100 and $1000, respectively), I can easily see some of the more desperate users getting hooked, forgoing food and bathing, and ending up lying on the floor of their mother's basement - their pants encrusted not with pizza sauce, but with the last droplets of semen they managed to squirt out before losing consciousness. That might be a little extreme, but it's a definite possibility - especially with Jelena Jensen now online!

There are over 31,000 performers on I'm Live, with an average of 1200 online at any given time, some of whom are famous pornstars that like to shove things up their back passage. What's the hold up, guys? How come you haven't moseyed on over to I'm Live to check things out for yourself? Oh, I get it. You're waiting on the Pros and Cons, aren't you? Well, it sure is nice to feel needed.

Pros:
- Navigating your way around I'm Live is fairly easy; you'll find lots of helpful browsing options.

- Prices vary depending on who you're chatting with, which means you should be able to find some inexpensive cammers that are still very satisfying.

- Cam shows are going on 24/7 from all corners of the technologically civilized world. You can even turn on your cam and share the love.

- Webcam chats with pornstars? Jelena Jensen? Sara Jay? Joanna motherfucking Angel? I'm in!

Cons:
- As with all webcam feeds, the video quality is quite low and will frequently leave you wishing you could see more detail.

- Basic membership is free and allows you to browse the site, but premium memberships cost money and provide more features.

- There are a number of large webcam communities online and I'm Live doesn't really set itself apart as something unique.

- Unless you're King Shit of Personal Finance Mountain, you'll probably find yourself running out of credits pretty quickly and thinking, "Man, maybe I should've stuck to a regular porn site instead".

Conclusion:
I'm Live is, like so many of the adult webcam communities out there in Internetland, a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting place to visit. You can act out almost any sexual fantasy you can think of without ever exposing yourself to rejection and ridicule. The "experts" of I'm Live have seen it all and done most of it, too. From a leather-clad dominatrix who won't show you anything but leg and cleavage, to a horny 18-year-old who can't wait to show you her freshly waxed pussy, you've got a world of women (and men, and couples) to choose from. The downside, and it's quite a big one, is that shows get quite expensive and you could easily find yourself losing control of your porn budget in a short space of time. Be careful, gents.