Chapter 2 Perceiving the Self and Others 59information; the media you choose are not responsible for what you share or
how you share it (Keller, 2013).
In Ned’s case, he chose to present a self that is carefree and happy—even
though his current situation is quite the opposite. Of course, it is important to
remember as a user of social media that if you can choose what to present about
yourself, so too can everyone else. Recall that recent studies (for example, Kross
WIREDFORCOMMUNICATION
Avatars: Virtual Personas and Perception
Thirteen-year-old Desmond, better known in cyberspace as Captain Obvious,
is modifying his avatar in the online role-playing game Borderlands II. He calls
the character Butch. Butch will be making his way through a series of quests
on the far-off planet Pandora while wearing an eye patch and a dockworker’s
skull cap. Desmond describes Butch as “psychotic.” But when other players
look at Butch, are they drawing conclusions about Desmond? Research sug-
gests that they might be.
Avatars can be chosen for any number of reasons, including as a way
to draw attention to yourself, to give others a glimpse of your interests, or to
capture some aspect of your personality (Suler, 2007). The characteristics of
selected avatars are important to both behavior and perception. Researchers
who looked at players in the massive online role-playing game Second Life
suggest that avatars are “highly controlled information transmitters, well-
suited to strategic self-presentation that can be used to communicate any
of the selves” (Bélisle & Bodur, 2010). Put simply, specific cues in avatars
communicate certain aspects of the self. For example, male avatars with long
hair or stylish hairstyles were widely perceived as more extroverted, whereas
those with jeans, gray shirts, long-sleeved shirts, or black hair were perceived
as introverted. So when players choose specific attributes for avatars—from
the way they look to what they wear—it’s likely that they are making their
choices in order to convey specific personal attributes.
But what if you didn’t design the character yourself? Could your online
behavior be affected by the cues of a randomly assigned avatar? Maybe.
Nick Yee and Jeremy Bailenson (2007) found that people’s behavior was
affected by the physical characteristics of the avatar assigned to them. For
example, people who were assigned to more attractive avatars self-disclosed
more and talked more intimately with others than those assigned less attrac-
tive avatars.
For Desmond and Butch, of course, things may be more complicated.
Second Life is a virtual world that is supposed to mirror ours, complete with
its own economy, culture, religions, and relationships. Borderlands, however,
is a scripted fantasy story that occurs on a faraway planet. Long-sleeved
shirts may suggest introversion on Second Life’s virtual Earth, but it’s unclear
what they might indicate on the planet Pandora.THINK
ABOUT
THIS❶ Does it surprise you
that avatars can influence
perceptions in such a
way?
❷ When you create an
avatar—be it an elaborate
skin on Second Life or a
rudimentary Mii on your
Wii console—how do you
choose its attributes?
❸ Does context matter?
Do you think avatars
function differently in
different games or virtual
environments?