Falksonomy

Recently a fellow student at IU, Phoebe Elefante, made a statement that got me thinking. She said, quite simply: “I am my avatar.” This made me consider the implications of avatar creation, and how choices we make every day are much like avatar creation in games.

As an example of an avatar, the image bar at the top of this blog, at the time of this writing anyway, is a picture of my mage from World of Warcraft. She’s just one of what I would consider my “avatar collection.” While she is, at this time, the one I most associate with as I’m “playing” her the most, I do have several other characters in that game, a presence in Second Life, a Puzzle Pirate, and a few other versions of myself running around in various synthetic worlds. While the vast majority of them are female, some are male (as I am IRL). That, however, is a less interesting story and not the subject of this post.

Every morning when we wake up, we go through a sort of mini avatar creation game. We chose how to clothe ourselves, and how to present ourselves: showered and pressed, smelly and sloppy, all the shades inbetween. We even chose, to some extent, what role we will be playing that day. “I am going to seal this deal and make this sale!” Vs. “I hate my job and I am going to sulk all day and be unproductive.” It is these descisions that effect how we are perceived by others in the world around us. To literally be our own avatar, or to conceptualize each day that way, requires not only a bit of imagination, but a break in the predominant view of what “adult” life is all about.

As someone who participates in body modification (tattoos, piercings, etc) modified body image is a part of life for me. As I’ve stretched my ear lobes, gotten new piercings, and added tattoos, I’ve been working out the ways in which to customize myself, much like every time I create a new virtual version of myself. Sometimes in-game avatars are as far from reality as possible (again, see the mage above). Other times, like in Second Life, they are quite true to form. Every day, however, we can either choose to dress a certain way and create a steady image of who we are to others, or do something completely new.

Whatever your personal choices are, think about what it would be like if you decided to completely change yourself. What would the implications for your daily life be? What would your employer think? Your friends? A partner or significant other? Often times, unfortunately, I believe you will find that outside of virtual worlds, you may get negative responses to those questions. Perhaps someday we will all be as bold as to literally live our lives every day as though it were a chance to create our presence anew. In the mean time, however, we can continue to move towards a world where our presences, both analog and digital, move closer to being one in the same.