Conclusion

Avatars are extremely important to the progression of communication, since all of their advantages help you communicate with people on the internet in a better and more consistent way. Since an avatar is basically a “graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet” (Lexico Publishing Group, LLC., 2008). This helps a person communicate with many different people in the virtual world, because the virtual world never stops and this way you can express you’re self constantly threw Avatars, even when you’re gone. When (Bugeja, 2005) said that people want to love and be loved, gain meaningful relationships with others, and possibly contribute to the community. This explains why people use Avatars. Another reason why people use avatars is that they are “an embodied representation of themselves” (Bessiere, Seay, and Kiesler 2007). This helps people gain confidence in them selves, which in turn will help them gain some relationships that will last for a long time and this is what people want. We feel that these reasons are why people use avatars; as well reason’s why it will succeed. People will use avatars as the technology becomes more prevalent, since they are now being used in video games as well as the internet. The next step in using avatars will be in the class room, and these advances might be the best of them all. For example this place would be “where a beautiful avatar named Lucy helps Chinese-speaking people practice their English. She asks you questions, which you answer by typing and, hopefully, also speaking, for the practice” (Egen, S., 2005). This will help many different people better them selves and help them gain long standing relationships, and this is what people want. we hope you start to use avatars since they are the next big thing in the communication world as well as the technology world.

What is an Avatar and what are they used for?

According to dictionary.com, an avatar is “a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet” (Lexico Publishing Group, LLC., 2008). It’s hard to pinpoint the birth of avatars into the internet, but it is roughly estimated that on April 19, 2000 an avatar by the name of Ananova made her appearance as the first virtual newscaster. She was 28, had green hair and a British accent. She was created with many facial expressions and the ability to speak multiple languages. Nowadays, avatars can be used for numerous things. I personally had a Yahoo! instant messenger account which let me design an avatar that looked like I do. It is primarily used to convey who you are, what you look like and how you feel. So what are avatars being used for? They have come to be used for many different things from online dating to basic instant messaging. Also, avatars are now being used for help in both the gaming world as well as the educational world. Gaming is obvious since you are taking on the role of a character in the game and can control what they do and where they go. The only way this isn’t fully an avatar is because you are not able to change anything about them. The one game that I can think of that would permit you to do that is The Sims which allows you to create a character that looks like you in every way. Avatars in the educational world are the next developing area that they plan on going into next. The best way to describe it is a place “where a beautiful avatar named Lucy helps Chinese-speaking people practice their English. She asks you questions, which you answer by typing and, hopefully, also speaking, for the practice” (Egen, S., 2005). This hopefully will be a way that could eventually lead to something that could be useful in the educational world in more than one area. Students could feel like they had their own private tutor and could easily relate since they are looking at an actual “person”.


References
Egen, S. (2005). The history of avatars. Retrieved on August 1, 2008 from
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/6165.asp.

Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. (2008). Dictionary.com. Retrieved on August 2, 2008
from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/avatar.

Avatars and How They Effect People in Reality

An avatar has a huge impact on how a person interacts in reality. They tend to, in some instances, try to remain in character when around their friends in person. Some others try to be a different person as their avatar. Avatars in most cases are an escape for some. Some people use it as a means to try on different personalities. They speak to and treat people in different manners as their avatar to see if they will be more accepted or if this new attitude will be more beneficial to them. For some people, an avatar helps with their social anxieties.
World of Warcraft is a web based game that has their subscribers take on a certain avatar to portray and play with. They can either be a dwarf, an elf, a warlock, or priest; all having their own qualities and traits. When people use avatars together as groups, such as in gaming groups like WoW, then more often then not the people in the avatar groups act the same way in reality. The individuals that are in charge of the groups in the game more often consider themselves in charge in their personal lives. Vise versa, the followers are normally the followers in reality. If anybody challenges the hierarchy or change their status in the group it will most often have consequences in their interpersonal group outside of the avatar realm.
A lot of friendships can be tested by how well someone can transition from their avatar to real life. Studies such as were done by HomeNet and a survey by Nie &Erbring concluded that “internet use led to negative outcomes for the individual user, such as increases in depression and loneliness, and neglect of existing close relationships” (Bargh & McKenna, 2004). On the other side, using an avatar gives somebody confidence as well. People want to love and be loved, gain meaningful relationships with others, and possibly contribute to the community (Bugeja, 2005). Having an avatar satisfies many by giving them a chance to socialize with people they can relate to without the fear of humiliation.

Where avatars used?

There are several technologies that utilize the use of an avatar. Usually avatars could be found in the gaming world. When people play multiplayer games over the Internet they are connecting with several other people who are playing the same game online. In a paper by Bessiere, Seay, and Kiesler (2007), they describe that people create avatars in the game as “an embodied representation of themselves” (530). Most other games played online have the option to customize the characters players will use online. The uniqueness of a player’s avatar depends on the number of options the game offers for customization. Often things like “appearance, profession, and personality of the character” can be chosen by the creator (Bessiere et al, 2007, 531). Certain games have two forms of avatars, the three-dimensional character you play as, and the two-dimensional pictures that represent your profile. The profile can be used across several different games, but the three-dimensional character can only be used in the game it was created for.
Gaming profiles are not the only place where you will find two-dimensional avatars representing users. Some instant messenger programs support the use of avatars. These avatars could either be pictures or simple animations that are shown on the window of the person who is receiving the communication. Even though screen names are typically used to identify instant messenger users, avatars could be used as a way to further personalize their profiles.
So far I have described avatars that are used to represent individuals engaging in a number of activities. However, some avatars are used by corporations to represent their products or even their company. These avatars are usually some sort of animation that can be found on websites. McGoldrick, Keeling, and Beatty (2008) described these types of avatars as “online assistants on transactional websites” (433). The avatar acts as a guide that answers visitor’s questions and can even provide links to certain products that the visitor maybe looking for. These avatars are a form of artificial intelligence that are called bots. If the website is the selling floor for a company, then the avatar would be the salesman that would show the costumer around.


Reference:
Bessiere, K., Seay, A., F., & Kiesler, S. (2007). The ideal elf: Identity exploration in the world of war craft. CyberPsychology and Behavio, 10, 530-535

McGoldrick, P.J., Keeling, K.A., & Beatty, S.F. (2008). A typology of roles for avatars in online retailing. Journal of Marketing Management, 24, 433

Introduction

Our Blog will discuss and explain to people what an Avatar is and what
it represents in the virtual world. But not only will discuss what it
is we will also talk about the way an avatar changes how a person is
in reality and the affect it will have on their communication skills.
The only part left to talk about would be the different scenarios in
which an avatar would be used. Since there are different scenarios
that could support different forms of avatars we will also discuss the
different forms of Avatars as well. I hope you find our blog
interesting and extremely useful. Enjoy!!