Being nervous is natural, but you should play. First of all it is much more fun than playing bots. Your rating is provisional only. It says around 1 044 but that is not correct. The correct rating you will see after 10-20 games when it stabilizes at certain point. If you wish to improve you have to play against real people. Playing against bots is mostly not good enough to help you. Bots play somewhat unrealistically. They will make mistakes but it will not be like when people make mistakes.
At this point you shouldn't worry about rating. That thing is there so it can pair you with opponents of approximately similar strength. So when you get to your real rating you will start winning more as well.
If you need help improving your game, perhaps this will be useful to you:
https://www.chess.com/blog/nklristic/the-beginners-tale-first-steps-to-chess-improvement
Nervous about online play
Then - disaster - somehow I won my first 2 games (opponents making mistakes) and my rating shot up to where I was sure it shouldn’t be.
Now I’ve had a 4 game losing streak and my rating is heading back down - I just need to get on and play more to see where it settles out? Still feeling the nerves... but it is getting better, I’m sure that keeping going with live games is the best way forwards for us:-)
It depends a lot what rating you choose at the start. You can underestimate your rating as well. For instance you know a bit of chess, didn't play it for years (like myself) and then put 800 or something when you are realistically around 1 000 or more.
But yes it is normal to lose a lot at the start.
I had a look at your game. You played against a very strong opponent for your first ever real online game. You can choose +25 and -200 and get matched against an easier opponent. Once you get yourself your first win it will help build confidence.
TL;DR I get where you're coming from, whatever works for you is best, but it's always a good idea to try to challenge you to open these new doors.
Long answer:
I can understand where you're coming from. For the past few months I've been playing elsewhere where I don't have to worry about ratings or knowing my opponent, it's just a game of chess and although I still feel nerves it's not holding me back too much most of the time. It's taken me some time to think whether I'd want to play rated games here but with all the aspects that come with it I too feel like I will crumble quickly, and I don't want to lose my interest because of how terrible I think I'm doing (which happens with many interests I've had in the past). I've started a few Daily games now so that I can take my time to focus and get in my own 'zone'. Seems to do me some good, I thought I would spend at least 10x more time because of all the pressure I put on myself but it's not that bad.
Honestly the best thing you can do for yourself is to make sure you feel relaxed. In case you ask too much from yourself, then the bots seem to be a safe zone for you to fall back on and I wouldn't recommend you to not go there. In fact, I like to play a practice game or two against a bot when I feel like it. The engine I have installed in Arena plays quite attractive chess and although it's certainly over my hat, I still often feel like I put in a fight.
(at the cost of my ELO)?
At the cost of some number that means nothing and is worth nothing? Yes! There really is nothing to lose.
By the way, how comes that a beginner in the first game is getting paired with an 1200-rated player? I knew that chess.com's pairing system is kinda bad, but this is just awful.
And also by the way, it's not ELO, it's Elo. It isn't an acronym, but the name of the guy who invented it, Hungarian-American physicist Arpad Elo.
Two pieces of advice:
1. Do not worry about your rating. Especially since your rating in the beginning does not reflect your actual strength. Being upset about losing your provisional rating points is like being upset about losing money if your bank put $1000 on your account by mistake and then corrected it.
2. Starting playing actual people online (I understand it can be quite scary in the beginning) is like going for a swim on a hot summer day. You can either slowly walk into the lake, shivering, trembling and cursing the cold water, or jump right in, head first, and then realize after a few seconds that the water is not as cold as it seemed.
Just start playing. Accept that in the beginning you'll lose a lot of games. After a short while, you'll be less nervous. And when your rating starts reflecting your true strength, you'll begin winning roughly 50%
(at the cost of my ELO)?
At the cost of some number that means nothing and is worth nothing? Yes! There really is nothing to lose.
By the way, how comes that a beginner in the first game is getting paired with an 1200-rated player? I knew that chess.com's pairing system is kinda bad, but this is just awful.
And also by the way, it's not ELO, it's Elo. It isn't an acronym, but the name of the guy who invented it, Hungarian-American physicist Arpad Elo.
Because everyone can set their own level from 400 to 2 000. The other day, I won against 2 000 rated player who played his first game against me. Realistically he was 800 at best.
I was super nervous at the start. Wait til you get a few wins in a row, it's great.
Hi, I’ve been practicing chess for a couple months against bots and friends and went into my first online match last week. I got steamrolled and now I’m hesitant to play any more matches as I feel I’ll just get crushed every time. I watch my game reports, study popular openings, try to activate my pieces and look for good ways to take but I don’t know if it’s enough. Should I just stick to bots or am I fearing something that could be a better learning experience (at the cost of my ELO)? I’d say my biggest fear is losing like 50 games in a row and just being stuck as a terrible player. What do you guys and girls think?
It's better experience to play people.
In the old days (long before the internet) you didn't even get a rating until you were close to master strength... so young improving players could just play and win and lose and enjoy the games... and this is much better for improvement.
Improvement isn't linear, it's more like one step back two steps forward. Play and play and play and keep playing. Analyze your games. That's an essential part of improving.
Every good player has lost many thousands of games. If you don't play for fear of losing a lot, then it's more or less impossible for you to improve.
No one gets worse at chess the more they play. I used to get nervous until I realized that I'm not at my proper rating until I'm losing half my games! That took the pressure off.
it dosent matter about your rating as you learn from your games you get better then you will beat people and sit in your rating spot
I think it's too bad to play with real opponent with the nerves. Everyone before just started from beginning. If it's confusing to try play with someone you can try with computer first and learn with many articles/lessons here. Next step can be try to play with others unrated games. Be brave and play for fun 
I spilled tomato sauce over my carpeted kitchen, don't ever carpet a kitchen
Hi, I’ve been practicing chess for a couple months against bots and friends and went into my first online match last week. I got steamrolled and now I’m hesitant to play any more matches as I feel I’ll just get crushed every time. I watch my game reports, study popular openings, try to activate my pieces and look for good ways to take but I don’t know if it’s enough. Should I just stick to bots or am I fearing something that could be a better learning experience (at the cost of my ELO)? I’d say my biggest fear is losing like 50 games in a row and just being stuck as a terrible player. What do you guys and girls think?