RAPID: The Role of Emerging Virtual Cultures in the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission

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The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our relationship to the physical world. Social distancing guidelines have led many people to avoid all forms of public life, from concerts and restaurants to everyday interaction in parks, neighborhoods, and the homes of family and friends. In response there has been a massive increase in online interaction: the internet has suddenly become the primary way that many Americans socialize, labor, and learn. It is crucial to gain a better understanding of how the emergence of these changes is related to the pandemic. Even if a vaccine is discovered, preventing catastrophic levels of COVID-19 transmission into the next few years will depend on social distancing that can be sustained and integrated with work, education, and community. This means going online. The starting point for addressing this global challenge is thus the fact that what we call “social distancing” is really physical distancing. Successful physical distancing will rely on new forms of social closeness online. Yet there is not just one “online.” A rapid and effective response requires clarifying the impact of virtual worlds as part of different forms of online interaction that comprise a virtual culture: social network sites, streaming websites, and multiplayer platforms. The project will also train graduate student researchers in methodological approaches for studying online cultures. This research will be conducted in a densely trafficked virtual world. Virtual worlds are places where individuals interact with avatars in online environments. The investigators have conducted research in a virtual world context for over a decade, and thus have detailed baseline data with which to examine what is happening as a large number of individuals enter that virtual world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the sudden move to virtual worlds doing in terms of social closeness and interaction? How does co-presence in virtual place transform intimacy and collaboration? How might this provide innovative strategies for preventing viral transmission, by forging new forms of social closeness in the context of physical distancing? To investigate these questions, the researchers will conduct participant observation, individual interviews, and group interviews. The study will compare individuals who have spent time in the virtual world for years with individuals who have entered the virtual world after COVID-19. Findings from this research will provide insight into the specific possibilities virtual worlds are providing in the circumstances of societies reshaped by COVID-19. In these new circumstances, virtual worlds will be one element of an online ecosystem linking drones, robots, and autonomous vehicles to mobile devices, social network sites, online games and streaming, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics. The research will thus provide a better understanding of the place of virtual worlds in this emerging online ecosystem.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.