Information and communication technologies (ICTs) afford inclusion to socioeconomic opportunities within and across societies. Immersive ICTs, including virtual and augmented reality as well as metaverse platforms, have the potential to facilitate technological inclusion. Yet, we lack sufficient insight into how this potential can be realized. Using the lenses of institutions and intersectionality, we investigate use cases of immersive technologies in seven social venues – namely the furry community, digital churches, Metaverse Seoul, Metaverse Fashion Week, flight simulators, the Nth Floor, and the Family Reunions Project. We used a netnographic approach within these venues and performed a comparative analysis of social practices across venues to surface insights for a viable strategy for inclusivity using immersive technologies. First, we highlight a strategy of digital inclusion by the excluded for the excluded. Specifically, we found great inclusion initiatives emanated and developed by excluded classes for members of their class. Second, we highlight a small-wins strategy. Use cases that began with a narrow focus and were built out incrementally were more likely to promote inclusion and succeed than were more ambitious ones. Third, we suggest looking for intersectionality in remedies. Building on the intersectionality concept of the aggregative nature of exclusion, we find that inclusive practices can be similarly aggregative as inclusivity spills over from one venue to another and to different categories of people on a platform.
