protecting identity with avatars

8/9/2019 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.


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/


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.

protecting identity with avatars

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