Avatars As Allies?: The Role of Social Virtual Reality in Constructing Safe Spaces and Technology. Methodological Challenges and Ethical Debates.

Virtual Reality (VR) platforms have emerged as significant spaces for identity exploration and expression (Lin and Latoschik, 2022), particularly for marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals. While valuable research exists on LGBTQ+ experiences in digital spaces, further exploration is needed to understand how VR platforms influence the construction and expression of fluid identities.

Our research project will examine how users navigate and construct fluid identities through VRChat's avatar creation and customization systems, analyzing how these digital embodiment tools can either empower or constrain LGBTQ+ identity expression. We will investigate potential forms of data violence (Hoffmann, 2017) within the platform's architecture that might limit LGBTQ+ expression.

From January to March 2025, we will conduct a virtual ethnography in VRChat, focusing on how LGBTQ+ users explore fluid identities. Our methodological approach acknowledges our positionality as cisgender heterosexual male researchers while emphasizing participant agency and co-creation of knowledge. We will employ diverse strategies to maintain an ethical research design in the VR environment, ensuring that participants retain control over their representation through methods such as temporary research avatars and segmenting interviews across different identity expressions.

In alignment with ethical discussions in digital feminist research, we prioritize tangible community benefits by developing practical resources that enhance users' safety and expression in VR, including documentation of supportive LGBTQ+ practices in VRChat and platform improvement recommendations.

Bibliography:

Lin, J., & Latoschik, M. E. (2022). Digital body, identity and privacy in social virtual reality: A systematic review. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 3, 974652.

Hoffmann, A. L. (2017). Data, technology, and gender: Thinking about (and from) trans lives. In En J. C. Pitt & A. Shew (Eds.), Spaces for the Future (pp. 3-13). Routledge.