Roblox is an immersive platform focused on bringing people together to create, educate, and share with one another in meaningful ways. Our company mission is to connect one billion people with optimism and civility. As such, safety and civility have been the foundation of Roblox from the start, and become even more important as we grow and evolve. 

Although safety is broadly understood, civility is often not. Civility is built on a foundation of safety. We have the opportunity to build one of the most civil immersive communities in the world. One that is Fair, Respectful, and provides a deep sense of Belonging. Civility is when people’s conduct and behaviors align with contextual expectations. Civility is complex because it depends on the context of who you are with, where you are etc. For instance, how you behave in a library is different from how you behave at a party.

The mission of the civility team is to empower people to navigate Roblox and the online world with civility and confidence, which requires  the development of  a set of skills and behaviors which help to create positive online interactions that are respectful, inclusive, and supportive. To achieve this, Roblox has a dedicated civility initiative focused on the following pillars:

• Lead – Continually innovating and amplifying our civility initiative for all people around the world
• Educate – Delivering educational resources driven by evidence-based data partnering with global experts in the areas of human development, mental health, and digital literacy
• Empower – Advocating for civility-by-design through product development and developer collaboration

For each of these three pillars, we are excited to share what we’ve learned in fostering civility and how we’re inspiring positive change to help people thrive on Roblox. 

Lead: Civility starts with education and awareness

A foundational element of creating civil online spaces is ensuring that everyone has clear and easy-to-access information about the online spaces their friends and family interact in. 

Research is foundational to create relevant and impactful strategies and content to empower kids, teens, parents, and caregivers. All of our civility education research is evidence-based, and conducted in partnership with leading global researchers, child development experts, and online well-being organizations.

Examples include our parent guides created with NAMLE, our “Into the Digital Future” podcast created in partnership with Sesame Workshop, and our Roblox Family Guide—all of which can be found on our resources page.

The next iteration of the internet is upon us, and our work is never done. We’re excited to announce the launch of our Civility microsite, civility.roblox.com, for anyone seeking advice about Roblox, using account controls, or more broadly, well-being and digital literacy advice. The site will contain updates from the latest research and Roblox resources as we work to amplify our civility education globally. 

Educate: Delivering recommendations to improve online civility by partnering with experts

Our vision was that the online world could be safer and more civil than real life due to advancements in technology before the end of this decade. We collaborated with the Digital Wellness Lab (run by Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School), hosting a series of workshops to explore what needs to happen across society in Technology Innovation, Product Policy, and Education to make this hypothesis a reality.

Over 100 global experts in various fields relating to children’s welfare and development attended, including educators, researchers, clinicians, policymakers, advocacy groups, youth-support not-for-profit organizations, and technology companies. Our aim, in debating key issues and topics, was to develop guiding recommendations to educate technology leaders and policy-makers looking to build a more civil online world. Here are some proposals:

• Approach online civility from a youth-rights framework – ensure everything we build, design, and deploy has young people’s rights at the forefront.
• Involve youth meaningfully in the design of apps, platforms, policies, and resources.
• Commit across the tech and media industries to co-create and adhere to policies that are positively framed and encourage growth.
• Build onboarding processes that set expectations for behavior to support civility-focused norms in a fun and engaging way
• Design, deploy, and continually improve accessible civility resources.

These proposals were grounded in evidence about the state of civility in online spaces, and the effect of online platforms and media literacy on an individual’s wellbeing. You can read the full whitepaper here. 

We’ve also recently wrapped up our latest research project with UK safety partner, Internet Matters. This work focuses on the digital experiences of neurodiverse teens, and includes key findings about their experience online. You can read the full report and access guides for neurodivergent young people and their parents here.

These are only a few of the ways that we partner across organizations to deliver educational resources for specific audiences. 

Empower: Evolving new features to keep Roblox safe and civil

Every day, people come to Roblox to create, play, work, learn, and connect with each other in virtual user-generated experiences built by a global community of creators. Although we have strict Community Standards in order to help ensure that everyone feels safe and welcome, people may not realize they are unintentionally violating our policies.

To help educate people, we are testing a new feature that helps users know when they may be violating our Community Standards in chat with voice. To date, it has shown promising results, and we will continue to test and make feature improvements. 

What’s next?

We will continue our work across these three pillars to help our community thrive. In this spirit, we will deepen our knowledge of how individual communities use Roblox and other online spaces; so we can ensure an inclusive, healthy, and positive community where everyone has the information they need to have a safe and civil online experience.

The post Dedicated to building a safer and more civil online world appeared first on Roblox Blog.

Self-expression is a vital part of many people’s experiences in immersive 3D spaces—especially Gen Z, who are growing up building connections in digital worlds. That’s why we’ve put together the 2023 Digital Expression, Fashion & Beauty Trends Report, which explores the full spectrum of self-expression through avatars, including brand considerations, the psychology behind creating an avatar look and the impact of authentic self-expression on people’s physical style, purchasing decisions, and even mental well-being. 

This work builds on the research we did last year that provided valuable early insights on how people express themselves in immersive spaces. Our 2023 report offers new insights that will help creators, brands and industry experts better anticipate and respond to quickly evolving consumer needs.

Here are the top 5 takeaways from the 2023 report*:

1. The importance of digital self-expression continues to grow

In this year’s survey* of over 1,500 members of Gen Z in the U.S. and UK who are active on platforms like Roblox, 56% say styling their avatar is more important to them than styling themselves in the physical world. And for older Gen Z aged 22-26, 64% say that, given a choice, dressing up their avatar would be more important than dressing up in the physical world.

Additionally, 84% of Gen Z respondents say digital fashion is at least somewhat important for them, and  85% think the importance of digital fashion has grown at least some over the past year. More than half (53%) think it’s grown a lot.

These findings echo what we see on our platform: self-expression through digital identity and fashion is an essential part of people’s experience. For example, during the first three quarters of 2023 on Roblox, there were a total of 165 billion avatar updates, up 38% year over year, and people bought nearly 1.6 billion digital fashion items and accessories, up 15% year over year. Plus, millions of Roblox users continue to update their avatars every day.

But the influence of digital style and fashion doesn’t stay in the virtual world. In the survey, 84% report that their physical style is at least somewhat inspired by their avatar’s style, including 54% who say they are very or extremely inspired by what their avatar and other avatars wear.

2. Brand recognition matters for Gen Z in the metaverse

When it comes to metaverse fashion, survey respondents stress that they care about distinct styles and brand recognition: 52% say “stylish digital clothes” is the attribute they pay most attention to when deciding if an avatar is “cool-looking.” And three in four say wearing digital fashions from a recognized brand is at least somewhat important, including 47% of survey respondents who say it’s very or extremely important.

This dynamic can drive purchasing behavior: 84% say that after wearing or trying on a brand’s item in virtual spaces, they’d be at least somewhat likely to consider this brand in the physical world. In fact, 50% say they’d be very or extremely likely to do so.

3. Consumers are open to spending on digital fashion—the more exclusive the better

Meanwhile, designers and brands will be happy to learn that most Gen Z users are also willing to spend on digital fashion: in our survey, 52% say they’re comfortable budgeting up to $10 each month, while another 19% are willing to spend up to $20 monthly and an additional 18% are open to buying $50-$100 of items every month. 

The launch of Limiteds this year highlighted Roblox users’ demand for exclusive and rare items, as evidenced by most Limiteds reselling for more than their original cost.

For example, community members lined up to earn Limiteds via challenges in the Gucci Ancora experience and to buy up items from Roblox-native brands like CHRUSH.

Similarly, a leading electronic music brand, Monstercat, recently teamed up with community creator @WhoseTrade on six single-edition necklaces. Each sold within minutes, including the Ruby Pendant, acquired for 1,000,001 Robux (approximately $10,000), the highest initial Limited sale to date.

4. From head to toe, avatars enable experimentation with expression

While digital fashion is important to Gen Z users, people are also experimenting with other innovative ways of expression through their avatars.

One example of this is avatar makeup, which is already available in some community-created experiences. In addition, numerous brands—like Fenty Beauty, Maybelline, NARS, Givenchy Beauty, NYX, and L’Oreal—are now investing in meeting customers’ interest in it. 

And there’s real opportunity for them. According to our survey, more than a third of all respondents (35%) say it’s important to customize their avatar’s makeup daily or weekly, and the number rises to 51% for self-identifying female respondents. 

People are also increasingly customizing their avatar hair on Roblox. This year alone, users purchased more than 139 million hairstyles, up 20% over the year before, including more than 7.3 million people who bought five or more hairstyles on Roblox.

But self-expression doesn’t end there: Roblox users have increasingly been adopting emotes, and so far this year, 9.8 million Roblox users bought them, up 64% year over year. That’s something that Tommy Hilfiger took note of in introducing emotes into its Roblox digital fashion collection.

Users are also choosing fantastical auras that match their vibe, like a colorful variety available within Paris Hilton’s Slivingland.

And soon, Roblox users will be able to have expressive avatars featuring realistic emotions. That’s likely to be well-received by Gen Z users since 86% of survey respondents say it is at least somewhat important that their avatar is able to express emotions in order to feel fully represented in the metaverse. 

5. Authenticity drives self-expression in immersive spaces and positively impacts well-being

One striking finding from the survey is that most members of Gen Z strive to look good in the metaverse for themselves rather than for others. When choosing their avatar look, 62% say they care a lot that their avatar looks good to them as compared to 37% who say they care a lot that it looks good to others. 

And 40% of Gen Z feel it’s easier to present their authentic selves in the metaverse than in the physical world. Among the reasons cited: more “freedom of expression” and “creative options.” Further, people feel they “can be whoever we want” and that it’s “less judgemental” when they interact with others as avatars in immersive spaces.

In fact, our research showed:

• Twice as many respondents believe they are judged less on their looks in the metaverse than in the physical world, and;
• Respondents were 2.2 times more likely to say that expressing themselves in immersive spaces via their avatar feels better (“more me”) than posting 2D photos from the physical world on social media. 

Finally, respondents cited a positive impact on their mental well-being: 88% say expressing themselves in immersive spaces has likely helped them comfortably express themselves in the physical world. They note it helps build connections with others (29%), boosts confidence (24%), allows for true self-expression (21%), and helps improve mental health in other ways (25%).

A Universal Connector

Authentic self-expression is often described as a universal connector for people: by sharing who we truly are, we can make genuine connections. As Roblox continues building its platform and products for immersive communication and connection, we’re ensuring that people have the broadest set of opportunities to authentically express themselves. We’re excited to continue studying this space because as our research demonstrated, we know that when people have more control over the many elements they can choose to represent themselves in immersive 3D digital spaces, it can lead to positive impacts on their physical-world connections and well-being.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT HERE

* Methodology: The ‘2023 Digital Expression, Fashion & Beauty Trends’ report includes two complementary sets of data: 

• Behavioral data collected from the Roblox platform from January through September 2023.

• Self-reported survey data collected from 1,545 Gen Z users between the ages of 14 and 26, living in the United States (1027 respondents) and the United Kingdom (518). To obtain these responses, Roblox commissioned a nationally representative survey from Qualtrics fielded September 27-29, 2023. Included stats represent the full respondent sample given sentiment between the two markets (U.S. and UK) was largely similar. The sample has been balanced for gender in both markets using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for the U.S. and Office for National Statistics in the UK to reflect the demographic composition of these markets’ population in that age range. In the full report data is referenced as ‘2023 Roblox Self-Expression Survey.’

• For any additional clarifications or questions on the data please contact [email protected].

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