This week, we had a brief introduction to Second Life. We read an article in the New York Times "How Second Life Affects Real Life," to show the connection between our behaviors from online to offline. I found this very true, yet disturbing all at the same time. When we create an avatar, we want it to reflect our best or a according the article "our hottest self." It sounds pretty silly when you think you want an animated picture to be hot, right? However this is not just a picture, its a representation of ourselves, our identity. It makes me think back to the PRSSA National Assembly presentation, "Managing Your Personal Brand." I guess you think of an avatar as a personal brand because it represents YOU.
You can also think of it like this. Your profile picture on your Facebook or Twitter page is also apart of your personal brand. Sometimes your picture may not represent an everyday look, but your best. Why do you want a photo of you looking your best? Of course you want people to see your default photo and equate your name with that photo. Same with an avatar. Even though you are not physically present in Second Life, you SELF is.
I actually just set up a Second Life character named Penelope Treeflame...so if she is flying around your area, it's me :)
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I made an avatar last year in Organizational Communication and I found the whole experience to be a bit funny. My favorite part was actually customizing my avatar's look. You can choose to look like your "real" self or you can reflect something completely different. I remember a guy in my class who was a green monster with wings! I feel that using second life in a business sense could be fun and different but reflecting who you are through an avatar could be a little confusing. For example if the CEO of IBM met the guy in my class in his monster attire, he might not be taken seriously. Reflecting who you are, and your personal brand seem to be two different things in the world of second life.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about your Second Life avatar representing your personal brand, but then again I never thought of Second Life to be anything more than a "video game". But that makes a lot of sense, as does the idea of Facebook representing your personal brand.
ReplyDeleteI agree Meghan.. I always thought of Second Life as a video game but then again this is all new for me. I have never been one to play games on my computer and I was never a Sims person growing up. I feel that to be into these games like Second Life you have to be into the computer gaming world. The branding of your company through Second Life could work but for companies like American Apparel and such it did not because honestly not enough people know about it. Which is a shame because it is pretty cool!
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