Avatar Communication Provides More Efficient Online Social Support Than Text Communication

TL;DR

This study shows that avatar-based online communication offers more effective and stable social support than text-based communication, especially benefiting users with fewer offline social resources, and emphasizes the importance of realistic avatar interactions.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that avatar communication enhances online social support and relationship stability compared to text communication, highlighting its potential in future metaverse societies.

Findings

Avatar users receive more online social support.

Avatar communication leads to more stable relationships.

Positive link between online and offline support is stronger for avatar users.

Abstract

Online communication via avatars provides a richer online social experience than text communication. This reinforces the importance of online social support. Online social support is effective for people who lack social resources because of the anonymity of online communities. We aimed to understand online social support via avatars and their social relationships to provide better social support to avatar users. Therefore, we administered a questionnaire to three avatar communication service users (Second Life, ZEPETO, and Pigg Party) and three text communication service users (Facebook, X, and Instagram) (N=8,947). There was no duplication of users for each service. By comparing avatar and text communication users, we examined the amount of online social support, stability of online relationships, and the relationships between online social support and offline social resources (e.g., offline social support). We observed that avatar communication service users received more online social support, had more stable relationships, and had fewer offline social resources than text communication service users. However, the positive association between online and offline social support for avatar communication users was more substantial than for text communication users. These findings highlight the significance of realistic online communication experiences through avatars, including nonverbal and real-time interactions with co-presence. The findings also highlighted avatar communication service users' problems in the physical world, such as the lack of offline social resources. This study suggests that enhancing online social support through avatars can address these issues. This could help resolve social resource problems, both online and offline in future metaverse societies.