protecting identity with avatars
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Protecting Identitywith Avatars
I am referring to picture that a person
uses to graphically represent them-
selves on computer services such as
Twitter and Facebook, forums and dis-
cussion boards. Whether it is a photo-
graph of the user or a famous actor, an
image from a film or drawing, this rep-
resentation becomes the users avatar
on that service (Avatar, n.d.). So the
aforementioned bodies used in the film
Avatar to explore the alien world are
indeed avatars for that context.
The answer to the initial question is:
almost everyone who communicates
online, as there are very few services
that do not provide options for user
avatars.
While a persons avatar could be a
photograph of themselves, there is a
general view that a photo is not an ava-
tar. In this way, the users avatar be-
comes the image, and even the person-
ality, that the user wishes to project
onto that community. For some, the
avatar becomes a different person, ei-
ther to hide behind or to embrace
something different, or an image to
from which to project a new or old in-
terest. Where the personality of the
user changes as the avatar changes, the
personality become the avatars per-
sonality.
How many people use avatars in their online
communication?
By avatar, I am not referring to the blue skinned, humanoidbodies used in a recent feature film of the same name.
[6705ELPC2010]2010/04/23
Volume 1, Issue 1
My Avatar Creator
http://www.myavatareditor.com
This editor produces avatars identical
to the Miis found on the Nintendo
Wii console and is very simple to
use. From the popularity of Miis,
most students will enjoy these ava-
tars.
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Avatars pro-
vide a means
for students to
protect their
real identity
while online.
The use of avatars is also reflective of
the social context in which the discus-sion is occurring. When discussion oc-
curs on open networks, where the use
of real names is discouraged, a clear
majority of avatars are not photo-
graphs. The avatar chosen may be re-
flective of discussion topic or may
show the users personality differently.
When I was part of the Browncoat
community of the TV seriesFirefly,
the majority of forum users had avatars
picturing their favourite character or
locales of the TV series. Those users
whose avatar was not drawn fromFire-
fly generally used avatars from other
science fiction series. In these circum-
stances, avatars may be transported be-
tween services, allowing established
relationships to continue elsewhere, or
it may be isolated to a single service
and discarded when no longer required.
In closed networks used to continue ex-
isting social interaction, where commu-
nication is restricted to those that one
knows, there is less of a restriction to
use of real names and photos. On these
services, such as the chatting tools
AIM and MSN Messenger, the avatar
(originally called a buddy icon) may
be a cool picture the user has found, a
short message or a personal photo. Inthis environment, a particular avatar
may have a short lifetime, each reflect-
ing a different facet of the users per-
sonality. From my own experience, my
avatars on MSN Messenger were snip-
pets of pictures from web comics, TV
shows or photos of effects in science;
the avatars reflected my interest or
mood at the time. However, someclosed network services have a public
face, and care must be taken with ava-
tars at this boundary.
Avatars have been seen by educators as
a means for students to have an online
representation, to change the "sea of
gray square faces" (Allen, 2010, para.
2 ) when using online services for class
activities. By using avatars, we educa-tors are providing a chance for student
self-representation with less risk of ex-
posing students to online predators as
would occur we used photographs
(Feldman, n.d.). They also provide a
means for students to protect their real
identity while online. Safety is an im-
portant consideration, as educators we
have to plan for the safety of our stu-
dents during class activities, inside or
Protecting Identity with Avatars [6705ELPC2010]
DoppelMe
http://www.doppelme.com
A free avatar creator which restricts
most of its customisation options to
registered users. It creates interesting
avatars that students should enjoy.
Warning: before clothing is selected
the avatar is naked apart from appro-
priately placed fig leaves.
Alan Burt
Is a graduate education stu-
dent at the University of
Canberra.
This image is an avatar
produced at
http://www.evolver.com
Inappropriately realistic for
identity protection.
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relevance of this finding. Students will
need to be educated, by us, in appropri-
ate content for avatars while we edu-cate them in the reasons for their use.
Communication with parents about
avatars, use and appropriateness, will
also needs to occur, to ensure there is a
consistent message between home and
school.
Education on the use and content of
avatars could easily occur alongside
the creation of student avatars in a les-son. There is a large variety of tools
available on the internet for the crea-
tion of avatars (see the examples
throughout this article). Remember that
the simplest avatars can be students'
Build Your Wild Self
http://www.buildyourwildself.com
This tool is provided by the New York
Zoo and Aquarium and allows students
to create avatars which combine human
and animal components. It would be
excellent for class self-representation
exercises. Unfortunately there are only
child sized bodies, so the avatars will
suggest that the user is a child.
Protecting Identity with Avatars [6705ELPC2010]
outside the classroom or school. The
Internet is outside of school grounds
just as much as the park located downthe road. I am not saying that students
using the internet is something to be
feared, as there are as many learning
opportunities on the Internet, if not
more, as there are in that park.
While avatars provide a means for stu-
dents to protect their identity, particu-
larly their age and gender, care must be
taken with the choice of avatar. A pic-
ture of Hannah Montana doesn't tell
me that I am talking to an 8 year old
girl, but it strongly suggests that I am.
Although, the user of a Hannah Mon-
tana avatar still has their real identity
protected, which makes it harder for
someone to identify them in the real
world. It should also be remembered
that an age and gender neutral avatar isuseless for protection if age, gender
and/or location are listed in profile in-
formation. Avatars are only a compo-
nent of internet safety.
While an avatar can provide protection
for a students real identity, when an
inappropriate avatar is used it can be a
source for unwanted attention. Re-
searchers have found that "girls who
present themselves provocatively in
body and clothing choices [for their
avatar] are more likely to have had
online sexual advances" ("Study:
Abuse, provocative images increase
Internet risks for girls", 2009, para.
21). From the information presented, I
suspect the researchers were using ava-
tars in three dimensional virtualworlds, but this does not detract from
Simpsons Avatar
www.simpsonsmovie.com
This creator allows stu-
dents to create avatars
which look like characters
out of The Simpsons. The
hosting site is a promo-
tional site forThe Simp-
sons Movie.
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existing work, scanned or photo-
graphed and uploaded to the online ser-
vice. Creating avatars can be part of aself-representation exercise, particu-
larly in the primary school years. As a
class or in small groups students could
discuss what they would show, why they
would use it as their virtual self and howit relates to the networked service. In my
secondary mathematics classroom, avatars
could be created while exploring visuali-
sations of fractals. Student would create
their avatar from a portion of a fractal and
discuss why that portion appealed to
them. This task combines exploration of a
topic in modern mathematics and discus-
sion online student self-representation.
Avatars provide an excellent means for
students to protect their identity and main-
taining a means of self-representation
while using the Internet. As educators, our
role is educate students on the appropriate
use of avatars, establish their use in online
classroom activities and encourage the use
of them outside of the classroom.
References
Allen, B. (2010, January 5)Pick a Personality
[web log post]. Retrieved from http://
techeduk8ing.edublogs.org/2010/01/05/
avatars-for-students/
Avatar. In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 20,
2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_%28computing%29
Feldman, B.J. (n.d.) Social Networking Safety
Tips for Kid. Retrieved April 21, 2010 from
http://www.surfnetparents.com/
social_networking_safety_tips_for_kids-
18837.html
Study: Abuse, provocative images increase
Internet risks for girls. (2009, May 26) CNN
Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/05/26/girls.internet.study/
Protecting Identity with Avatars [6705ELPC2010]
Meez
http://www.meez.com
A free creator which can be used to cre-
ate 2D static or 3D animated avatars.
Most customisation options are free,
however some must be purchased. The
sites intent is that the avatars are used in
the hosted and advertised games, with
some advertisements for sites or prod-
ucts.
Mini-Mizer
http://www.reasonablyclever.com/?
page_id=29
Allow the students to create avatars
based on Lego minifigs! A great tool for
students who like Lego. This version is
promoted as Kid-Safe.