I played Diablo II and met lots of friends in the game. sometimes, we play a online game because we feel bored.
Meanwhile, some people play online game because they feel lonely. Can participation in online brand community help in reducing feeling of loneliness in real life and online world?

I am now a student in UK and currently doing a dissertation about online brand community. When we talk about online brand community, Diablo is definitely one of the best and largest brand community in the world. The dissertation aims to investigate how participation in online brand community affects feeling of loneliness in online/offline world. It takes around 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

I really would like to have some assistance from the some of the Daiblo community in which I engaged for a long time. It is really really appreciated if you can spare a few minutes to contribute to my dissertation. It will help a lot.

Thanks very much in advance. Hope we have a good time in playing Daiblo (or other games)

Survey link: [URL]https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NV72PMB[/URL]

not sure how my keys feel about this

Playing Diablo is fun. Doing dissertation is sad =/

I feel it is your first time posting here = I'm not gonna click that link

It could go for any interaction with people online, imo. Being someone who fell into a phase of not going out and truly being a loner / homebody as a teenager. Online was my escape or an outlet to communicate with others. From yahoo chat, to camfrog, to nothing because I started talking to the father of my daughter.. To back on camfrog, now I'm on league and randomly get on tinychat & camfrog since I don't go anywhere besides work. I definitely think it's an outlet used for people who didn't want to sit at home alone and not talk to anyone. Especially camfrog, I have witnessed people sleeping on cam. I'm guessing because either too drunk or just zoned out and fell asleep.. but maybe also because they don't enjoy sleeping alone. I used to fall asleep on Skype when I could with my ex. It made me feel closer to him when we were states anyway. Sorry for the paragraph. Might check out survey.

That is ok, we can discuss the issue here too

I used to reading and browsing in this forum. I admit that I seldom interact. That's why it is the first time I ask for assistance here

Yes, there are two theories:
1. People feel lonely in real life so they are engaged online and try to expand their network online
2. People spend too much time online, so they cannot spend time in maintaining their relationship offline. As a result, they become lonely offline

However, more and more people try to participate in online brand communities nowadays. Can the participation really help in reducing loneliness? People seems to make friends online, like play online games together, discussing TV dramas, sharing fashions...etc
Can these interaction help them?

FG is looking a little low for that type of love

and some of the people DO say that, online interaction can help in reducing loneliness say long distance relationship
However, others also mention it cannot or say, even intensify, as there is a lack of physical proximity.