Something Personal from the Metaverse: Goals, Topics, and Contextual Factors of Self-Disclosure in Commercial Social VR

Document Title

Something Personal from the Metaverse: Goals, Topics, and Contextual Factors of Self-Disclosure in Commercial Social VR

Document Information

• Research Domain: Study of user behavior in social virtual reality (Social VR)
• Keywords: Self-disclosure, social virtual reality, online social interaction, user privacy, relationship building

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges:

  • Self-disclosure is critical for establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships, yet current research in social virtual reality (Social VR) has relatively limited focus on this behavior.
  • In traditional online platforms, self-disclosure behavior is influenced by technological characteristics, but how social virtual reality impacts self-disclosure remains unknown.
  • There is a dual trade-off between privacy risks and user information sharing.

• Importance of the Issue:

  • Self-disclosure serves as an essential medium for fulfilling basic social needs, and studying it is crucial for designing safe and healthy virtual social spaces.
  • Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, social virtual reality has provided an alternative to face-to-face interactions, further emphasizing its significance.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • Previous studies primarily relied on user interviews with small sample sizes, lacking insights into general patterns of self-disclosure behavior.
  • This study aims to capture broader patterns of self-disclosure in social virtual reality through an online survey.

Solution

• Proposed Method:

  • Design and implement an online survey comprising various closed and open-ended questions to explore user self-disclosure behavior in social virtual reality.
  • Investigate five core research questions:
    1. Users' perceptions of disclosing personal information in social virtual reality.
    2. Topics of self-disclosure.
    3. Goals driving self-disclosure behavior.
    4. Contextual factors influencing self-disclosure behavior.
    5. Technological channels used by users.

• Innovations:

  • Extract general behavioral patterns of social virtual reality users from a large-scale sample.
  • Explore specific self-disclosure topics and influencing factors unique to social virtual reality.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  1. Survey design includes three main sections: social virtual reality usage habits, self-disclosure behavior, and demographic information.
  2. Define specific thematic areas, including relationship-building topics, identifying information, and sexually related information.
  3. Use quantitative methods to evaluate how contextual factors influence self-disclosure behavior.
  4. Collect data through online questionnaires, analyze results, and generate behavioral patterns.

Research Findings

• Specific Results:

  • Users tend to disclose sexually related information and lifestyle preferences in social virtual reality but are less likely to share anonymous information (e.g., real names).
  • The primary goals driving self-disclosure behavior include relationship building and identity exploration.
  • Contextual factors (e.g., relationship type, virtual space privacy, number of participants, activity type) significantly influence users' disclosure decisions.

• Advantages and Contributions:

  • Compared to previous research, this study provides broader insights, revealing general patterns of self-disclosure in social virtual reality.
  • Offers guidance for the design of future virtual reality platforms, particularly in terms of safe spaces and privacy protection features.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • The most common disclosure channel is voice chat, while other technological channels (e.g., avatars, virtual environments) are relatively less utilized.
  • Users exhibit significant privacy concerns regarding self-disclosure but still perceive interactions in social virtual reality as authentic and meaningful.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations:
    • The sample is primarily focused on Western users and specific platforms (e.g., VRChat, Neos VR), which may not represent global user behavior.
    • Data collected through online questionnaires reflects users' retrospective behavior rather than real-time interaction data.
  • Future Directions:
    • Expand to user groups from different cultures and platforms to explore self-disclosure behavior in more dynamic contexts.
    • Investigate innovative interaction channels in social virtual reality platforms (e.g., new forms based on spatial and non-verbal behaviors).
    • Address user privacy and data security issues to provide design recommendations for future metaverse platforms.