Behind the Avatar: New Year’s Resolutions

A new year means making resolutions — to resolve to eat healthier, exercise more, quit smoking, make better financial decisions, and commit to a new challenge that makes people better people. But it’s very rare you’ll keep your resolutions for the whole year. Nearly 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February, so the odds are against you.

After 13 years, IMVU, the largest virtual social network, has connected billions of friends through 3D chat and interactive experiences of their own choosing. Every friend request, message, and animated emoji is evidence that there is a person behind every custom avatar and even with setting new year’s resolutions, a user’s IMVU life and real life eventually merges as one.

 
 

Upon the start of January 2018, IMVU set out to hear what its over 189 million registered users resolved to do in 2018. Knowing that we’d probably read some of the more classic new year’s resolutions as mentioned above, what we didn’t know is that our users would be resolving to be better people on IMVU and then translate that into their real life social livesOf course, losing weight, buying a more stylish wardrobe, or changing their hair color is less of a new year’s resolution than it is a click of a button with IMVU’s customization features, but what we found are commitments to challenges that go deeper than skin level and reveal the person behind the avatar. Even though IMVU users are represented by an intangible 3D form, the “improvement of self” came through in droves. What we found is that our users are resolving to be a better “person” to facilitate deeper friendships, relationships, families, and connections.

IMVU Users: Resolving to Be a Better Friend

“This year, I want to be the person anyone can go to when they need to vent, whether it be for advice or just for an ear to listen to them.” — @Wa

“Everyone makes mistakes in their lifetime and I know that I’m no Saint. Last year, I lost a lot of close friends and pushed people who I loved away with my actions. I went out of my way to upset others who I felt wronged me in some form. I closed myself off and forgot to forgive those who forgave me or asked for another chance. I learned to hate myself.

These are issues that weigh many individuals down, and I’ve seen it first-hand across IMVU as well as in real life. We work hard trying to put ourselves above others only to put ourselves down in the end. If we’re all busy hating so much, where will there be any love?

2018 is a new year, it’s time for new resolutions and more change. Where better to start with change than ourselves? This year, I want to be the person anyone can go to when they need to vent, whether it be for advice or just for an ear to listen to them. I want to be a person who can admit when they’re in the wrong and apologize to make amends. I want to reach out to all those that I lost and left behind. I want to learn to love myself again and be happy once more. My New Year’s resolution this year is to be someone that I can take pride in.” — @Wa

 

“This year, I want to keep and grow my IMVU and real life friendships. I want to succeed in both my IMVU and real life.” — @Layla

“My new year’s resolution is to take care of myself, to fix things and honestly to pay attention to my life and my actions. I’ve learned so much from the last year and realized that my actions might’ve hurt my real parents. I started blaming IMVU for my failures in college because I met someone that took all my time away from my studies… but then I realized that I’ve made wonderful friends through IMVU . My IMVU friends are the ones who understand me and are there by my side during my worst times. I blame myself for not realizing that I’m ruining my own life with the decisions that I made. So this year I want to keep and grow my IMVU and real life friendships. I want to succeed in both my IMVU and real life.” —@Layla

My new year’s resolution is to help new people on IMVU make friends, give gifts as random acts of kindness, and get more involved in the IMVU community.” — @Nicole

“My new year resolution is definitely to be a better person. I believe that I wasn’t the best version of myself in the past and I want to change that this year. By helping people on IMVU — show people who just joined around and introduce them to others — give gifts as random acts of kindness, and participate in more contests so I’m more involved with the community. In real life, I would like to donate money to the needy.” — @Nicole

“I want to commit to working on the things that make me a better person, so I can become the kind of person I want to be and my friends want to be around.” — @Alexa

“My New Year’s resolutions are to become a better version of myself, working on those aspects that I do not like about me, which can take days, weeks or even years. I want to commit to working on them so I can become the kind of person I want to be and my friends want to be around. I want to enjoy more of life, to give more time to my family and friends in real life and on IMVU, to be a carrier of help, and to do my share to bring positive change. Above all I want to be happy, to not expect big things but rather enjoy the little things and moments in life where true happiness is found. I chose these resolutions because we are always in constant change and we must always be open to new learning that can lead us to make positive changes in our lives. This new year I say to my IMVU friends: value what you have, overcome what hurts you, and fight for what you want.“ — @Alexa 

“This year, I want to change my attitude and improve my relationships with my IMVU friends, then transfer that same attitude to my real life friends.” —@Anna

My new year’s resolution is simply to be happy, to not take small things to heart, and to improve myself to be a better friend. I get anxious very quickly, but this year I want to bring a change to my attitude and improve my relationships with my IMVU friends, then transfer that to my real life friends. I just hope this year will go happily and better than 2017.” — @Anna

“My 2018 resolution is to host more themed IMVU parties so that I can be part of creating more joyful and memorable experiences that bring my IMVU friends together.” — @QueenBee

“My resolution this year is simply to put more smiles and laughter in the hearts of all my IMVU family and friends. I started off 2018 by hosting a “New Year, New You” themed Costume Party” in my favorite IMVU room. The fun was in seeing how my friends dressed up their avatars to represent their real life new year’s resolution. For example, my friend who wants to stop eating sugar dressed up as a carrot. My friend who wants to be more punctual dressed up as a clock ,and my friend who wants to stop smoking dressed up in a smoke costume. We laughed all night long! This is the kind of laughter I’m talking about — joy, excitement, a shared happy experience. This experience is one that will never fade from our memories and will never be forgotten. So my 2018 resolution is to host more themed IMVU parties, which will include lots of smiles and laughter. Why I picked this as my resolution is because I love having fun and making people smile, laugh, and feel good. I love to have fun and I’m not leaving anyone behind. ♥♥♥” — LOVE, @QueenBee.