I recently had a chance to read an intersting post from Cole Camplese on identity in the Web 2.0 world. If it was thought provoking enough to wake up the monkey that cranks my brain, you might find it to be an interesting read as well.
Cole's post got me thinking again about something that has always been a side interest of mine - the notion of self presentation in this era of the social internet, but in a much more "superficial" way. I'm talking about avatars or the "form" we choose to represent us online.
In places like Second Life and in a large percentage of games today, you interact with the world and those around you through your avatar, which you both create and control. In a sense, it is your "internet body". But unlike your real body, there is an enormous degree of customization available when creating your avatars - in Second Life for example, the possibilities are literally limitless as to what you can make your character look like. Some people strive to recreate their real life form. Some people will make minor changes, like skin, hair, or eye color. Some people will change their gender, and some will go as far as to change their very species. It goes without saying, there is no obligation to make your virtual you look anything like the real you.
Or is there?
I've always been curious about the avatar creation process because of the amazingly vast degree of variance in how people appraoch a virtual host for themselves. However, regardless of the reason why, I'd gamble that there is at least a small degree of self reflection in every avatar you create - be it a mirror image of your physical appearance, or a digital manifestation of some small, hidden part of yourself which is not often exposed to the public eye. Though if you are willing to use it as your face to the internet world, perhaps its not such a small part of you after all...but thats for psychologists to debate.
Cole's post was about the portfoilio of ideas and materials that combine to form our Web 2.0 personna. But what about the literal appearance of that personna? What do our choices in creating a preresentation for ourselves say about who we really are? How much of an impact does that have on the way we are percieved by others? Does it? Should it? Will it? Hmmm....
I am totally new to gaming. Several weeks ago, Brett and I were talking and he encouraged me to go into Second Life and get started.
1) I don't know if Jeff was joking in our staff meeting, but I really, actually, still have not figured out how to get anywhere but orientation island. Occasionally, I think I may be smart, like when I got an M.A. with a 4.0. Other times, I think I must be exceptionally dense.
2) Even if I figure out how to get out of orientation island, I refuse to represent myself as having a bare midriff. No adjustment to the clothing allows you to avoid that. Let's just say that as a 44-11/12-year-old person, I would certainly not deem that appropriate in real life. Certainly, it would be embarrassing if I encountered the avatars of coworkers and represented myself in a provocative manner.
I know, that's totally not the meat of the matter in Second Life. Still, I really hesitate to investigate further based on that.
This is an interesting twist to this whole conversation ... I recently read that by 2012, someone (sorry for that) is claiming, 85% of the Internet population will have an avatar representation of themselves. On the plane I read a little piece in the MIT Technology Review looking at how emoticons will no longer be little smiley faces, they will be our own faces twisted into expressions.
I am not as into the gaming space as many of my colleagues, but I am slowly coming over ... I think things like what you are discussing pose very interesting questions for us long term as it relates to identity. In the transparent world of the new Internet, all of these things will add up to a BIG part of who we are. These are issues to watch and pay very close attention to.