The article, Just Like Me Only Better, brought up some very interesting points and opened my eyes to a completely new world of Second Life. The article begins by giving us a brief background on the term Avatar, and discusses the purpose behind them. The article tells us thatAvatar originally comes from the Sanskrit term which means the human form that differnt God's took when they entered Earth. I found it very interesting to see how the term has changed from its original meaning to a cyber representation of self in today's world.
I also found it very interesting in the article when Erwin Goffman is quoted. I found it very precise and elegant when Goffman stated " in all social interactions the desire of each participant is to regulate the impression that is transmitted to others, through roles". If we as humans constantly want to regulate the image of how others perceive us, creating an Avatar is an ideal way to control how other people view us. I think this is the main reason why Second Life and the creation of an Avatar is becoming so popular. By creating an Avatar we possess all the control of how others view us. In face-to-face communication we can not completely change the way we look or the sound of our voice in order to manage others opinions of us. However, in an Avatar world we can create our own physical appearance exactly the way we want it.
According to the results of the study, the stereotypical standards of western beauty are the most predominant choice of people creating avatars. Fair skin, straight hair, and large eyes are often equated with beauty although people from all different nationalities create avatars. The article inferred that western beauty ideals are often prevalent because the users are trying to portray a positive impression to other users as Goffman stated earlier.
Hi AG,
ReplyDeleteYa, I liked this article too. I have to admit that I have never looked at Second Life. However, I remember a CEO I used to work for was really hung up on the idea of this site back in 2007; I could never see how that site would have related to the business we were in, but he was always determined to find connections to current trends to his business / company.
I also liked the historical perspective on the origin of Avatar. I have known this term for many years, but never knew this bit of history.
Finally, I like the quote you pulled out from Goffman. This all made me wonder how we use our pictures of ourselves in our profiles as Avatars. I know I certainly use mine that way.
Hey AG,
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting where the term Avatar came from, its amazing how the word or concept has changed from the Sanskrit definition to the cyber representation of oneself. Going onto your thought on the main reason why Second Life is becoming popular is a very good assessment on the social situations of individuals. As you mentioned, by creating an Avatar we posses all the control of how others view us. Also, in the Second Life world, individuals are able to create their ideal views on what they want to be seen as and can create a character to just that. In my post, I found that the stereotypical standards of western beauty was the most predominant choice of people in creating their avatar. I would have never guessed that there was an international commonality in people perspective of preference in creating their avatar. Its actually quite interesting. Great post!
-Rob
Hello AG,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post about this article Just like ME only Better. It was a very interesting article. I liked the whole Second Life thing too. When people create avatars they make them better then themselves in a sense. I feel like everybody has something about themselves that they don't like and the idea of a Second life only gives them a chance to change that about themselves. Overall i believe this article was very intriguing because of the Second Life idea.