Avatar

When looking at my avatar I think the impression it gives off is that the individual pictured is a little off the beaten path. Saying this when creating my avatar I made it very simple so to represent myself but with the added hat also made him look a little out of the ordinary so to represent the things that make me an individual.

Avatars are a big part of the Internet community, and some represent the individuals who created them very well. There is many problems however with avatars because many show a false image of the people behind them. I do think that many people lack professionalism when it comes to the things that represent them in their avatars and that sometimes compromises what they represent in real life. Different avatars are suitable in different environments. For example my avatar would be suitable on a website that supports the show South Park but not on a website where I want to show my level of professionalism. With limited outfits and attributes you can add to an avatar many people are not able to represent themselves very well and when that happens there ethos can completely change. Individuals sometimes also show false attributes that they connect to themselves and that can compromise the way people interact on the Internet. When I see an avatar on the Internet I look for specific attributes that may represent an individual and key things that show who they may represent in real life. When I see things that people put up that are false it completely changes the way I think about them and that shows perfectly what happens on the Internet on a daily basis.

On the Internet avatars are replacing where people used to put up photos of themselves in real life. Many people each day choose to represent themselves by using avatars instead of pictures of themselves, and in my opinion I think it is due to the added freedom due to others not knowing your true identity. Many people use their avatars to relate to others and share common interests but many others are now using online avatars to create false personalities. With the added problems of Internet harassment and imposters posing as people who they really are not avatars can also have a negative effect on people. People need to choose for themselves in my opinion if they trust others who don’t use real photos of themselves on the internet where they cannot prove who they really are and be very cautious due to all of the people on the internet using false identities.