Questions for VRChat users who have struggled with social anxiety or loneliness!

General Discussion
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Hello! I’m currently doing a paper for school that requires me to seek outside personal insight into the topic of my choice. I’m currently focusing on the effects of VR communities on individuals who have experienced social anxiety or loneliness following the pandemic. I have a few questions here and would be incredibly grateful for any responses! Feel free to reply as personally or as straightforward as you wish, and feel free to skip questions if need be.

Here are a few questions:

  1. How frequently do you socialize with others within VR?

  2. Did you experience social anxiety or loneliness before the pandemic? How did this experience change as social distancing became mandatory?

  3. Do you find it easier to make friends or generally socialize in VR?

  4. How do you believe VR socialization compares to in-person interactions? Has VR influenced the ways you interact with others in real life? If so, how?

Many thanks to anybody willing to answer these questions! I’ve had a lot of fun learning about the social aspects of VR. After all my research, I’m even more interested in joining the VRChat community. Thank you for your time!

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I have social anxiety and loneliness in my first time with vrchat,vso if no one would like to share a Talk with me I would go to play with myself alone in F-16 flight worlds or zombie survival.

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I struggle at first. I don’t have a lot of friends that play vrchat so I’m usually either standing away from the larger groups or checking out the world. I’ll be muted and just try to answer with body language(waves, nods ,etc) if I find a group I vibe with fairly well I’ll unmute but it takes time. I have noticed it’s a little easier to manage the anxiety cause I can just step away or take off the headset for a second. But I usually just stick to friends and private worlds so I don’t have to deal with it but like I mentioned earlier I also don’t have many friends that play.

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