Bigscreen VR is one of the clearest…
Bigscreen VR is one of the clearest examples of a brilliant idea being completely undermined by poor moderation, chaotic community management, and a culture that rewards the loudest and most abusive users.
On paper, the concept is fantastic. A virtual cinema where people from around the world can watch films together, share screens, and socialise in immersive environments should be a standout success in the VR space. And when everything works and you happen to land in a decent room with respectful users, it can genuinely feel like the future of social entertainment.
But that is not the experience most users encounter.
First, Bigscreen is far more than just a screening app. While it is often described that way, in reality it functions as a community gathering platform where people meet to talk, debate, and socialise. Conversations frequently move far beyond films, touching on religion, politics, world events, and social issues. In many rooms, the film becomes background noise while discussions dominate. Because of this, Bigscreen operates less as a passive viewing app and more like a public social forum in VR, which makes moderation, safety, and accountability absolutely critical.
And here is where the platform catastrophically fails.
Public rooms frequently descend into harassment, insults, and personal attacks. Racist language, homophobic slurs, and other deeply offensive remarks are thrown around casually. Users make wild accusations about others—sometimes extremely serious allegations—with no evidence. What should be a relaxed social environment becomes a toxic shouting match.
A major and ongoing issue is the revolving door of bad actors. Certain individuals deliberately provoke arguments, harass other users, and record interactions to post edited clips online to smear or target people. Some of these individuals who act as a group have been banned multiple times, only to return under new accounts—or resume the same behaviour elsewhere—within minutes. The same personalities repeatedly reappear, creating an environment where ordinary users feel like they are constantly encountering the same hostile actors under slightly different names.
Then there are the safeguarding and content issues. Despite being marketed as a social entertainment platform, it is not uncommon to encounter rooms streaming explicit adult content. Some are dedicated to what the community refers to as “gooning rooms”, where pornography is played continuously and the environment revolves around a niche, highly disturbing sexual fetish. Some of these rooms reportedly stay open for extended periods.
Given that VR platforms attract younger users, the risk of minors encountering explicit material is very real. The platform often responds by saying parents should monitor their children, but this is disingenuous. It is not enough to put the burden on parents when explicit rooms remain active and visible. A system that relies on parental oversight to police material already circulating on the platform is fundamentally flawed.
Bigscreen could be truly brilliant. Watching a film in a virtual theatre with people across the world can be a genuinely enjoyable experience in the right room with responsible hosts. But those rare positive experiences are constantly overshadowed by trolls, serial harassers, repeat offenders, content manipulators, and explicit adult rooms that are easily discoverable.
Bigscreen has built an impressive virtual cinema.
What it has not yet built is a safe, well-moderated community environment that its social and public forum aspects demand.
Until the developers protect the actual victims of harassment rather than repeatedly allowing bad actors to return and continue their behaviour, and until they take real action against explicit content that minors can access, Bigscreen VR will remain a brilliant idea trapped inside a chaotic, toxic, and often disturbing social experience.