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What is my avatar? who is my avatar? the avatar as a device to achieve a goal: perceptions and implications

Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Chapter Peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines how senses of online identity may converge with, and diverge from, those of offline identity through a case study of the intentions behind, and interpretations of, avatar use within the virtual environment of Second Life™ among a group of UK university students. In exploring the participants’ rationales for their choices of avatar names and avatar appearances, the study witnesses ongoing shifts in notions of selfhood (and the conditions and strategies by which selfhood is determined), which may reflect theoretical projections as to the redefinition of paradigms of subjectivity fostered by the incremental virtualisation of societal experience.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Chapter Peer-review

Original language

English

Publication milestones

  • Published - 01/01/2011

Publication status

Published - 01/01/2011

Publisher

Springer, Japan, India, Australia, Germany, United States, United Arab Emirates, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, China, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Brazil, France, Singapore

Publication series

  • Publication series name: Springer Series in Immersive Environments

ISBN (Print)

9780857293619

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/279156

Host publication title

Reinventing Ourselves: Contemporary Concepts of Identity in Virtual Worlds

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