Blog post for the week of the 27th

Hello all,

For this week, create a new avatar and post an image of that avatar on the blog using a site like Face Your Manga, Doppelme, Second Life, etc.  Then reflect on the experience.  You may choose to answer one or more of the questions below in your reflection, or you may choose to write on some other aspects of the topic not described here. Understand that this exercise does not tie specifically to the readings for the week of the 27th, but instead should be informed by the readings and the discussions that we have had thus far on the concept of digital identity.

First, you may wish to describe your avatar and discuss any choices you made while you were making it.

Thinking of this avatar or one you've created in the past, did you choose an avatar that reflects certain parts of you or your personality or identity? Which parts of "you" do you tend to highlight? Did you enjoy creating the avatar or did you find it tedious or stressful?

If you haven't used an intentionally created avatar before, have you used a profile photo on a social networking site like Facebook?  Do you tend to use photos of yourself, others, objects? What do you want your profile photo to say about you?

Consider our readings related to online identity, such as digital natives and adolescent self-development, identity and race, identity and gender. In what ways do you feel avatars could help or harm one's self identity? What "invisible" parts of a person's identity can be brought forward (sexual orientation, political affiliation) with avatars? What do these choices of disclosure and non disclosure offer us? Could we learn anything about our society by studying the avatars chosen on a site like Second Life? 

Best 

Jennifer