Types of Avatars, Part 2: Seductive Avatars, Taking It Personal

by John Suler, Ph.D.

(Page 8 of 53)

Frontal nudity, including uncovered breasts, are not permitted at the Palace. Offenders first are warned by wizards, prop-gagged (forced into the standard smiley), and, if necessary, disconnected from the server. Adapting to these house rules, some users create avatars of partially naked or scantily clothed figures. Mischievious members sometimes push the envelope by wearing avs that test the limits and ambiguities of the rules. Supreme court justices have had a hard time defining what is pornographic, so the task has been no easier for the officials who run the EC sites. Even though the rules have become very specific about what body parts can and cannot be visible in an av, borderline cases always pop up (see The Bad Boys of Cyberspace).

Female seductive avatars tend to be more common than male - although these female avs sometimes are “manned” by male users (see “Male Gender-Switching in Cyberspace”) . In fact, the general impression among members is that males are more likely to prop up as females, especially seductive females, than women dressing up as males.

Members usually wear seductive avs to draw attention to themselves. This works very well. Male users, especially guests, quickly flock to a sexy female form. The owner may be interested in harmless flirting, or (less frequently) be advertising his or her availability for cybersex. I heard one story about someone's office friend who, when frustrated on the job, says “I need a Palace break” He then signs onto the Palace dressed as a sexy female and lures guys into bedrooms. Being sexy not only gets you attention. It also gives you power and control over others.

Some people wearing seductive avs wish to be admired as an attractive, sexy individual, without necessarily being interested in flirting or cybersex. “I have some very sexy stuff given to me by friends (all men!),” said one female member. “What do they say about me? Not quite sure, except that I would love to be younger and more beautiful and some of my avatars are that indeed.”

The competition in creating and displaying props is especially visible for seductive avatars. “It's interesting how some of the women at the Palace are getting into more and more elaborate sexy props. Almost as if it's a contest,” noted one member. “But then, some of the guys too are into 'comparing' props!” For men, the competition usually involves power props, rather than seductive ones. As one member stated, “the stag with the biggest rack thing, ey?”

A seductive, sexy, or simply “attractive” avatar can have a powerful impact on other members. One member described how his prop of a cartoon animal didn't seem to be getting him much attention from females. Most of them wouldn't talk to him. Curious about whether he could alter this situation, he searched the net and found a picture of Brad Pitt which he turned into a prop. The result?... Lots of attention. If he happened to be wearing his cartoon prop and found that he was being ignored by a woman, he would move to another room, switch to Brad Pitt, and then return. Or he would switch to Pitt right in front of her. Nine times out of ten, he said, the woman would strike up a conversation with him even if he hadn't said a word. He even established a relationship with someone who eventually wanted to meet him face-to-face. “The pic got her attention,” he concluded, “but in the end it was me that won her over.” The curious thing about this phenomenon is that members KNOW that people are not their avatars. Just because a prop is pretty to look at doesn't mean that the user is. Nevertheless, that seductive av has tremendous drawing power. Perhaps some people enjoy the illusion of interacting with (and hopefully winning over) an attractive person. Perhaps, as many critics of contemporary culture claim, some people can't resist the temptation of superficial appearances, despite knowing better. Or perhaps some people are just curious, “Who *IS* that person using that sexy av?”

Other members may display seductive avs simply to be admired for their skill in knowing how to create a seductive av. Because the Palace often feels like an ongoing party where people are going to flirt, playfully compete, vie for attention, and strut their stuff, it is almost a prerequisite that every experienced member owns a seductive av of some type. “Getting away with something” is an intrinsic component of the Palace culture, as Bumgardner intended. Having at least one seductive av is a cultural must.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. As one member said, “I don't really think that sexy type props are for me, just wouldn't be a true representation of what I'm about.”

Other Avatars

Whenever we social scientists go about categorizing things, we always end up with a miscellaneous or “other” category. There is such a wide variety of avatars that it's impossible to neatly classify them all. The same is true of personality styles (which is the origin of the prop). Here let me briefly mention just a few other types of avatars.

Odd/shocking avatars are unusual, strange, and sometimes downright bizarre pictures - perhaps revealing people who like to surprise, goof on, or even startle and outrage others. Truly bizarre pictures might make you wonder about the person's grasp of social appropriateness, or even their mental health. Such very unusual avs are most popular among adolescents - for whom extreme behavior is a way to express independence and individuality, and to test the limits.

Abstract avatars may be used by people who enjoy enjoy symmetry, are good (non-verbal) conceptual thinkers, and/or are inclined towards visual artistic endeavors.

Billboard avatars are announcements of some sort - political, philosophical, personal. They are used by those who have something to say and are not reluctant to display their thoughts in a commercialized type format.

Lifestyle avatars, which are quite common and varied, depict some significant aspect of a person's life - usually something to do with occupation, hobby, or personal habit. It may be a way to attract like-minded individuals.

Matching avatars are designed to accompany each other and indicate the connection or bonding between the pair of members. Considerable imaginative and technical skills may go into creating such avatars.

Clan avatars - are worn by members of the same social group, some might even say “gang.” These avs tend to be similar in basic design with slight variations to differentiate each one from the others. As such, each user announces his/her allegiance to the clan by adopting its collective visual appearance, while also maintaining some measure of individuality. It reminds me of the songs in some bird species. The species identifies itself and its members by a basic template that serves as the collective song. Yet each individual bird adds a small unique variation to that template in order to signify its individuality. Clan avs are found almost exclusively among adolescents for whom belonging to a peer group - and conforming to its standards - is a developmental hallmark.

Animated avatars contain motion, such as an eye tearing, a bird flying, or a flag waving. By visually diplaying “behavior” they can express a wide and subtle range of psychological meaning. Tapping a finger, blinking one's eyes, banging one's head against the wall - there are infinite expressive possibilties. The motion usually is cyclical and repetitious, which - depending on the type of avatar - may convey a feeling of persistance, determination, mindlessness, or rhythmic peacefulness.

Bigger is Not Better

The default size for an avatar is about 40x40 pixels. That's about as big as your average computer icon. When members create their first avatar, it's usually this size. They're pretty happy with their accomplishment, until they realize that other people have much BIGGER props. It takes a bit more know-how to master the technique of building large avs. Some members quickly get into a competitive feeling about whose is biggest - although the contest quickly ends at about 130x130 pixels, which is the technical limit.

Are there significant psychological differences in who uses big and small props? People who like power avs tend to like big avs, especially big power avs. People may rely on prop size to gain attention and admiration. I've heard some members state that younger users, especially male adolescents, like large props, while women tend to wear smaller props in general than men. These hypotheses certainly are amenable to quantitative research.

The general consensus among Palatians is that “bigger is not better.” Big avs sometimes are considered impolite. They take up a lot of precious space in a crowded room. They're a bit ostentatious. What matters more than size is the quality and style of your avatar. What matters is how you apply it to express yourself. “It's not the size of the prop, but how you use it.”

Prop Evolution

Bumgardner designed the Palace not as a game with imposed plots and rules, but as a open social environment in which users would “make of it what they will.” As a result, the culture is changing and evolving according to the psychological needs of the population. Because members have most control over their props, these elements are probably incisive visual signs of the transitory ebb and flow, and overall developmental path, of Palace life.

In my e-mail interviews with Bumgardner, he compared the history of props to biological evolution:

“This last week I read “Naturalist” a memoir by the biologist Edward O. Wilson, and a fine piece of writing. My intent was to read something completely unrelated to the Palace, to take my mind off it, but I found Wilson's descriptions of island ecologies particularly relevant, as it turned out. In some ways one can compare Props to Plumage. More interesting, attractive (or I might even say “powerful”) props tend to propagate, while less interesting, ugly ones don't. Some props have had incredible staying power - were created a long time ago and are still around, while others have had relatively short cycles. In addition there has been a marked evolution in the quality and size of props. A typical scene in Harry's bar this evening is quite different from a typical scene two months ago. You see more large elaborate props, and more sexy props. There was a big influx of sexy lingerie-clad female props at the Valentine's party and interestingly those have continued. Where competitive principles come in is that the overall quality of the props has been rising with time, as people keep up with the Joneses, and teach other how to make better looking props.”

Surely, there is a “survival of the fittest” among props. Those with real staying power are those that best capture universal human themes - such as sex, aggression, power, and spirituality. Other long-lasting props are those specifically adapted to the Palace environment (e.g., ”be right back” and “I survived the lag” signs), and those that are icons of contemporary culture (e.g., cans of Spam, Winnie the Poo, the Three Stooges). Carrying the biological analogy even further, Bumgardner suggested that the categories may be more specific than outlined previously in this article. For example - cartoon animals, cars, Japanese anime women. Those which are not “fit” eventually disappear into extinction. Those that ARE fit survive, develop, become more refined. The overall trend towards more variety and subtlety in props (not unlike biological evolution) points to a basic human need that Palace successfully satisfies - the need to pursue variety, to push the envelop, to advance.

This diversity is boosted by the need for personal expression of an individual's identity. The most fit types of props survive, but people also want and need to be unique - at least this is true of American culture. As Sammy Davis might have said, “I gotta be me.” People prefer not to wear the exact avs that other people are wearing. The results are avatars that do not fall into the usual categories or species types and an almost infinite variety of subtle differences within the categories. This doesn't necessarily mean that avs become more complex or elaborate over time. While this trend does tend to enhance individuality and uniqueness, avatar complexity can get unwieldy, inefficient, overly ostentatious. A push towards elegant simplicity counterbalances the quest for complexity, resulting in developmental ebbs and flows of avatar intricacy.

A clear exception to this basic rule about avatar individuality are the clan props. Members sacrifice the quest for a totally unique visual appearance in order to belong to the group. Clan props are most likely to develop among adolescents. They also will tend to evolve in a large, changing population where some users will attempt to gain status, influence, and identity by joining an established group, rather than by forging ahead on one's own.

Taking It Personal

Like masks of any kind, avatars hide and reveal at the same time. Behind it, people can conceal some personal things about themselves, but the av also selectively amplifies other aspects of their personalities. It may reveal something about the member that otherwise is not immediately obvious - maybe not even obvious if you met that person in real life. Maybe not even obvious to the owners themselves. What users express in their props is not always a conscious choice. Sometimes it's unconscious. People may simply say that they are wearing a particular av because "I like it." When asked, they're not sure what it says about them. But other people may know.

On a few occasions at the Palace I suggested to the group that we play a "prop game." The game goes like this. One at a time, people take turns standing before the group and trying on a few of their favorite avatars. Free associating to the image, the rest of us toss out ideas about how the prop looks, its psychological connotations, its possible symbolisms. The question then becomes - does this say something about the owner? More often than not, it does. The avatar is like a Rorschach inkblot, or the Draw-a-House/Person/Tree Test, or any work of art. It is selected from personal imagination. Consciously or unconsciously, people condense a multitude of meaning into it. They project their personality into it - who they are, who they wish to be, what they fear, what moves them. In the prop game, by free-associating, the other members help unpack all the feelings and meanings condensed into the avatar. It's very much like interpreting dreams. Of course, the other members may be projecting their "own stuff" into the ideas that they toss out about a fellow Palatian's avatars. But that's OK. In fact, it says something about how they are perceiving and reacting towards their fellow Palatian. It's what psychoanalysts call "transference."

People seem drawn to the prop game, probably for the same reasons that they are attracted to Palace as the haven of avatars. The Palace can be an entertaining, self-exploratory arena for expressing one's ideas, feelings, and creativity. It encourages people to experiment with new identities - all in a highly visual fashion. Casually, and intuitively, people are play.

Avatar Collections (That's Me All Over)

We all have different sides to our identity. Social psychologists would call them our “social roles” that surface in the variety of situations and relationships that make up our lives. Psychoanalysts would describe them as the constellation of “introjects,” “internalizations,” and “identifications” that comprises our intrapsychic world. On a daily basis, we juggle and shift between several rather distinct selves, sometimes without being fully aware that we are doing it. How, when, and why these different facets of our identity manifest themselves is the story of our lives.

In the multimedia communities of cyberspace, you can tell a lot about people by examining their collection of avatars and how they use them. Each avatar reflects a distinct aspect of the individual's personality and lifestyle - whether it is a mood, an interest pattern, a social role, one's attitudes and values, or a wished-for state of being. During my research on the Palace, I've often thought about how fascinating it would be to examine a member's whole collection, or at least his or her favorite avatars (since some members have hundreds!).

Doing such an analysis would be a very personal affair, so I have hesitated to ask anyone to participate in such a study. However, some readers of this article - like Legnek and Nacey - volunteered to contribute a sample of their avs, along with an explanation of what those avs mean to them. Other readers are welcome to do the same. Here are some of the avs in my own collection:

Gray owl - “AsKi” is my primary or “home” avatar. I spend the large majority of my time wearing this icon. I specifically chose this picture for several reasons. It is non-threatening. I did not hide the fact that I was doing research on the Palace in addition to socializing there, so I wanted to appear as benign as possible. The fact that it is a small prop adds to its innocuous quality, as well as makes it very portable and easy to fit into even a crowded room. An owl also is observant, non-intrusive, and “wise” - characteristics that I hoped would positively flavor people's reactions to me (and that I'd like to claim as my qualities). Also, the gender of the figure is unclear. My intention here was to allow other members initially to perceive AsKi as male or female according to their own projections (although I always revealed my gender when asked). Curiously, as I moved about the rooms of the Palace, I noticed myself looking for comfortable perches for my owl. Often I found myself sitting above and on the outside of a circle of people socializing - perhaps on a chair near the door, or on a picture frame on the wall. Was I acting like a bit of an outsider - observant, quiet, benign... maybe a bit distant? I would be lying if I said these qualities did not apply to me in “real” life. Many times I would have to catch myself falling back into this detached “observer” (lurker) mode. I didn't JUST want to do research. I wanted to get down, socialize, and have fun too.

The Earth - This is next in line as my most frequently used avatar. It's a positional prop. Several of the rooms at the main Palace site (the Mansion) are actually outdoor scenes (a beach, the Moor, the front yard of the Palace, etc.). In these locales I place myself into the sky. I was inspired to create this avatar when I first visited Nrutas - an outer space scene where computer geeks (I use the term affectionately) like to hang out. The first time I sat silently in the Nrutas sky, a new member arrived and said to a fellow Palatian, “I don't remember that Earth being there in the background gif? Is that new?” Perhaps this says something about my personality. Perhaps I like to blend in. I *am* ecology minded, like to wear Earth tone clothes, am interested in spirituality, love outer space fiction (a Star Trek fan, of course), and, as a kid, very much wanted to become an astronaut. All of this, and probably more, is condensed into that image. This avatar reminds me of the final scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey, when the “Star Child” returns to Earth.

James Taylor - This picture of James Taylor dancing with his guitar is from his “New Moon Shine” album. When I'm in my partying “let's get down” mood I'll dance this figure across the carpet in Harry's Bar. Even quiet people like to let their exhibitionist side out once in a while. This also is a good example of a “Wannbe Prop.” I play guitar and piano, but am average at it. If I magically could inherit anyone's musical abilities, it would be JT. I think everyone has a Wannabe Prop of some kind in their collection. A humanistic psychologist might say that it is an icon showing their path towards self-actualization. Using this prop also drove home for me the fact that avatars are powerful signposts for signaling to and attracting like-minded people. If not for this prop, I probably would not have connected to several other Palatians who also are JT fans.

Freud wearing a propeller beanie - As a psychologist, I've always been interested in psychoanalytic theory (though I warn my students not to take any one theory too seriously... hence the beanie). I sometimes jokingly put on this avatar when people ask me questions about psychology, or if someone in the room, not knowing I'm a psychologist, says something to the group like “Maybe we should ask a shrink about that!” I enjoy psychology, and sometimes I enjoy making fun of it. On a few occasions I switched to this prop when obnoxious guests were harassing people in the room. As “Freud,” I tried to find out why they were being so insulting in the hopes of either talking them down, or, if necessary, encouraging them to leave. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not.

Dressed to the Nines - This silhouette figure of a man dressed in a formal suit is a “flirting avatar.” I've used it (on rare occasions, I might add) to approach women who seemed in the mood to flirt. It's my attempt to assume the persona of a sophisticated, debonair man-about-town. Another wannabe avatar? It also came in handy for those nights when everyone in the room was in the mood to dress formally.

Hercules taming Cerberus - Let there be no mistake. This is a power prop. What could be more powerful than Hercules wrestling down the multi-headed dog who guards the gates of hell? Yet another wannabe prop? Power avatars, not surprisingly, tend to be big, and this is by far my largest. Some people are very impressed by it, others are put off by its size and aggressive quality. So I tend not to display it too often for fear of intruding on other people's personal space or offending their tastes. Technically, this was the most difficult prop I created. I had to dissect the original image into nine separate squares and then reassemble them in the Palace prop editor. As such, it was my competitive attempt to demonstrate that I knew how to make big props.

Other positional avs - I love to create avs that I can place into specific spots in specific rooms. I selected the leopard's face, the wolf howling by the moon, and the lightning bolt because they have a black background and therefore blend perfectly into dark doorways. I enjoy interacting with the Palace environment. Perhaps this symbolically indicates how I like to “fit in.” Sometimes, when I'm feeling left out of a conversation in the room, I'll play with this props in the background. It usually draws attention to me and brings me back into the conversation.

When we compare different people's avatar collections, some general patterns emerge. Many people have persona that are seductive, powerful, formal/sophisticated, silly/playful, and artistic/poetic. These may represent universal or archetypal sectors of personality. Most people cherish at least one original (“old”) avatar because it represents their birth identity in the Palace community. It's like an old, reliable friend. Almost everyone has a primary, all-purpose av that they use most of the time. It's the familiar home base, the image they feel most identified with and most comfortable wearing. Often it's one of those original, birth avatars. But sometimes it's a relatively new one. Active members are always creating new avs. One's collection is a balance of new and old persona, which reflects the balance between experimenting with new identities and holding onto the familiar, stable aspects of self. The size and variations in one's collection probably reflects the extent to which the person explores and experiments with personal identity. Many people have a secret avatar that they use when they don't want others to know who they are, as well as an avatar they wear when they're with friends - an appearance that readily identifies them to their friends, often that birth or primary avatar. Curiously, many people have an av which they really like, but aren't sure why they like it. It is a conscious reminder of an unconscious aspect of identity.

About the Author

John Suler, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at Rider University. This article comes from his online hypertext book The Psychology of Cyberspace which describes his ongoing research on how individuals and groups behave in cyberspace. His work has been reported by national and international media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, and CNN. www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/