WHAT WOULD GOFFMAN THINK ABOUT FURRIES?

Transcription

WHAT WOULD GOFFMAN THINK ABOUT FURRIES?:
PERSONA ADOPTION AND IDENTITY MASKING IN BLOGS AND
SECOND LIFE
A study submitted in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in Librarianship
at
THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
by
LIAM BULLINGHAM
September 2010
Abstract:
Background
With the development of the World Wide Web, people have started to use the internet in
more social ways, and interact using online environments such as persona weblogs, or
'blogs', and 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life. Users of these online environments
create an online identity, constructing their 'self' online. When this happens, users may
makes changes to the online self compared with the offline one, and as such adopt a
persona, or personae. Identity masking also occurs, whereby the offline identity is
concealed.
Aims
The primary aim of this research is to investigate persona adoption in blogs and SL,
discovering how and why this occurs. The research also attempts to establish whether
some forms of persona adoption can be considered to be subtler than others, and how
information can be trusted in these two environments within this context.
Method
This project uses qualitative research methods. Four bloggers, four Second Life users and
two users of both media were chosen as the research sample, and participants were
interviewed using a semi-structured format. Interview data is analysed using grounded
theory, and is categorised in order to produce the final findings.
Results
Rather than adopting personae in predictable ways such as by posing as a user with a
different gender or race, it was found that users attempt to recreate a faithful
representation their offline self online, but may also 'embellish' by making minor changes
to the self when online. In Second Life this might mean slight changes in appearance and
bloggers may employ narrative. Second Life users are more likely to adopt persona to
conform to expectations, or 'fit in'. Additionally, users may opt for anonymity online
because of its perceived advantages, and it was found that it is not always important to
users that information is reliable.
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Conclusion
Persona adoption occurs primarily through the appearance of the avatar in Second Life,
although the place a user inhabits may also figure. In blogging, methods of adoption are
less widespread, and because of the absence of social pressure when compared with
Second Life, it may be concluded that less persona adoption occurs in blogging. The
concepts of personal 'embellishment' and 're-creating the offline self online' detailed in the
results are not mutually exclusive, and both may be employed by a user. Further research
could purely analyse the minor adoptions identified here - the 'embellishments of self'
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Acknowledgements:
Above all, I wish to dedicate this dissertation and the endeavour that went into it to my
grandmother, Margie Bullingham, who sadly died just before it was submitted.
I also wish to thank my supervisor Dr Ana Cristina Vasconcelos for the feedback and
encouragement she has provided, and for not steering me towards a more conventional
topic!
Finally, I thank Shaghayegh Asgari for her constant support throughout and my parents for
everything they have done for me.
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Contents
Chapter 1.................................................................................................................................. 9
1
Introduction and context ................................................................................................. 9
1.1
Background .............................................................................................................. 9
1.1.1
What is a blog? ............................................................................................... 10
1.1.2
What is Second Life? ...................................................................................... 11
1.2
Research aims and objectives ................................................................................ 12
1.3
Value of the research ............................................................................................. 13
1.4
Chapter summary................................................................................................... 14
Chapter 2................................................................................................................................ 16
2
Literature review............................................................................................................ 16
2.1
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 16
2.2
Early scholars ......................................................................................................... 16
2.2.1
Marcel Mauss ................................................................................................. 16
2.2.2
Erving Goffman .............................................................................................. 17
2.2.3
The application of Goffman ........................................................................... 17
2.3
Early virtual worlds ................................................................................................ 18
2.3.1
The IRC ........................................................................................................... 18
2.3.2
Gender swapping and MUDs ......................................................................... 19
2.4
Avatars ................................................................................................................... 20
2.4.1
What is an avatar? ......................................................................................... 20
2.4.2
Avatars in Second Life and blogging .............................................................. 22
2.5
Disinhibition ........................................................................................................... 24
2.5.1
The online disinhibition effect and netiquette .............................................. 24
2.5.2
Griefing (and kindness) .................................................................................. 25
2.6
New selves ............................................................................................................. 26
2.6.1
Online selves .................................................................................................. 26
2.6.2
Blended identity ............................................................................................. 26
2.6.3
Persona play ................................................................................................... 27
2.6.4
Second blogs and 'alts' ................................................................................... 27
2.6.5
Impersonation ................................................................................................ 28
2.7
Self-censorship and pseudonymity ........................................................................ 29
2.7.1
Self-censorship ............................................................................................... 29
5
2.7.2
2.8
Pseudonymity ................................................................................................ 30
Race and conforming ............................................................................................. 30
2.8.1
Lisa Nakamura ................................................................................................ 30
2.8.2
Conforming .................................................................................................... 31
2.9
Unmasking and failing to mask .............................................................................. 32
2.9.1
Language analysis and voices......................................................................... 32
2.9.2
Failure to mask: the danger of your digital past ............................................ 33
2.10
Robots posing as human ........................................................................................ 34
2.10.1
Chatbots ......................................................................................................... 34
2.10.2
The application of Goffman & Mauss ............................................................ 34
2.11
Personal space ....................................................................................................... 35
2.11.1
Communicating interests ............................................................................... 35
2.11.2
Creating a desirable impression ..................................................................... 36
2.12
Teenage bloggers ................................................................................................... 37
2.13
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 38
Chapter 3................................................................................................................................ 40
3
Methodology .................................................................................................................. 40
3.1
An empirical, inductive study ................................................................................. 40
3.2
Qualitative research ............................................................................................... 40
3.3
Rejected data collection methods ......................................................................... 41
3.4
Semi-structured interviews .................................................................................... 41
3.5
Interviewing online ................................................................................................ 42
3.6
Sampling of participants ........................................................................................ 43
3.7
Grounded theory.................................................................................................... 44
Chapter 4 ............................................................................................................................... 46
4
Discussion of results: research findings ......................................................................... 46
4.1
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 46
4.2
Expressions given ................................................................................................... 46
4.3
'Fitting in' - a key motivation for persona adoption .............................................. 50
4.4
Recreating the offline self online ........................................................................... 53
4.5
Dividing the self...................................................................................................... 55
4.6
Anonymity .............................................................................................................. 57
6
4.7
Minor persona adoption through embellishment ................................................. 59
4.8
Information evaluation techniques are not always needed .................................. 60
Chapter 5................................................................................................................................ 63
5
Discussion of results: literature incorporation .............................................................. 63
5.1
5.2
Fitting in' - a key motivation for persona adoption ............................................... 65
5.3
5.4
5.5
Anonymity .............................................................................................................. 67
5.6
5.7
Information evaluation techniques are not always needed .................................. 69
Chapter 6................................................................................................................................ 71
6
Comparison of SL and blogging ...................................................................................... 71
6.1
6.2
'Fitting in' - a key motivation for persona adoption .............................................. 71
6.3
6.4
6.5
Anonymity .............................................................................................................. 72
6.6
6.7
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 73
Chapter 7................................................................................................................................ 74
7
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 74
7.1
Overview ................................................................................................................ 74
7.2
Research findings and research questions comparison:........................................ 74
7.3
Outline of key findings ........................................................................................... 76
7.4
Research limitations ............................................................................................... 77
7.5
Recommendations for further research ................................................................ 78
Chapter 8................................................................................................................................ 79
8
Reflective report ............................................................................................................ 79
8.1
Early stages ............................................................................................................ 79
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8.2
Middle stages ......................................................................................................... 80
8.3
Finalisation ............................................................................................................. 81
Chapter 9................................................................................................................................ 82
9
References ..................................................................................................................... 82
10
Appendix: List of interview questions ........................................................................ 91
10.1
Questions for both blogging and SL participants ................................................... 91
10.2
Questions for participants who use both blogs and SL only .................................. 92
10.3
Questions for SL participants only ......................................................................... 92
10.4
Questions for blogging participants only ............................................................... 92
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Chapter 1
1 Introduction and context
1.1 Background
With the emergence of the World Wide Web, people have started to use the internet in
different ways and for different purposes. Surfing the web has become one of the most
popular pastimes in and people use it to communicate, socialise and express themselves.
Two kinds of places on the web that people do this are web logs (or 'blogs') and 3D virtual
worlds, the best known of which is Second Life. Superficially, blogs and Second Life seem
very different. A blog is two dimensional (2D) and text-based, whereas Second Life features
a three dimensional (3D) environment with sophisticated graphics. However, both are kinds
of 'online environments'.
When people use these environments by either creating a blog or designing a Second Life
self-representation (commonly known as an 'avatar', this is defined in the Literature
Review) they give themselves an online presence, and therefore build an online identity, or
'self'.
During this construction process, there is the opportunity for the user to make their online
self significantly different to their real life self - that is, consciously playing a role or
pretending to be somebody different online. Possible reasons for this could include the
desire to create an 'ideal self' online. In this research, this process is termed 'persona
adoption'. Also included within persona adoption is the withholding of real life identity
online, which is termed 'identity masking'.
A consequence of persona adoption is that the 'online person' might appear to be very
different to the 'real person'. By adopting personae and masking identity, users can
potentially deceive others, but also 'operate on a level playing field' by avoiding
discrimination faced in their real lives, or use anonymity to challenge authoritarian regimes
or evade censors.
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Blogs and Second Life have only been briefly explained so far. The following sub-sections
define these two online environments in more detail.
1.1.1
What is a blog?
A blog can be understood as a website featuring dated entries which appear in reversechronological order concerning a specific topic (Boulos et al, 2006; Glance et al., 2004). Blog
entries or 'posts' are composed by the user writing a passage of text which might include
hyperlinks under a particular heading. The blog is maintained by these entries being
regularly submitted and thus posted on the blog.
A blog can be maintained by groups of people or organisations, but most are written by
individuals who write about their interests or world-view and do not have many readers
(Nardi et al, 2004). This latter kind of blog is often thought of as an electronic journal or
diary (Herring et al., 2004; McCullagh, 2008). In this research, this latter kind of blog is
focussed upon rather than the first.
Blogs are dynamic in that they can include images and video, provide links to other blogs
and recommended websites and utilise web 2.0 technology to allow readers to post
comments on entries (Godwin-Jones, 2003). Although there is high potential for deception
when writing a blog, 75% of bloggers describe their style as 'sincere' - more than any other
trait (Sussman, 2009 - Figure 1).
In this research, users who maintain a blog are referred to as 'bloggers' and the act of
maintaining a blog is called known as 'blogging'.
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Figure 1: Results from a Technorati survey showing the writing style of bloggers
1.1.2
What is Second Life?
Also known as 'The Virtual World', Second Life (SL) is an online, 3D world created by
American company Linden Labs in 2003 where users interact via personally-created selfrepresentations, termed 'avatars'.
SL features its own economy, culture and social communities (Parker, 2008a). SL is reputed
to have 18 million user accounts (Wikipedia, 2010), but due to users maintaining multiple
avatars and inactive accounts, this figure is unreliable. More useful is the average of
826,214 users that sign in to their accounts more than once every calendar month (Nino,
2010).
Understanding of what SL is has changed in recent years. When virtual worlds were
relatively new, SL was referred to as a "computer game" (Mason, 2006) perhaps in order for
viewers and readers being introduced to it to grasp the concept, but it was later stressed
that this analogy is flawed:
Virtual worlds are in many instances more than a game. As this is the case
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with Second Life, where there are no levels, scores, and there is no
"game over" (Fetscherin and Lattemann, 2008)
Understanding the potential for confusion, Meadows (2008 : 26) adds:
Second Life may look like a game, but that doesn't mean it is. It's a virtual
world, but a world nevertheless
SL is an example of a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE). Baldwin (2009) differentiates
these from massively multi-user online role playing games (MMORPGs) such as World of
Warcraft (WoW) by stating there is no 'game' aspect, and they reflect the real world by
providing an environment "to be explored just like our own with areas of entertainment,
shopping, living, learning and more".
1.2 Research aims and objectives
Focusing on two online environments – blogs and Second Life – this research investigates
the methods users employ to adopt personae and mask identity, the reasons why they do
this, and assess the extent different users go to in doing this. The findings from both online
environments will then be compared and conclusions will be drawn.
The questions that this research aims to answer are:
R1:
'Why do users choose to adopt different personae?'
R2:
'How do they do this?'
R3:
'Can some forms of persona adoption be considered to be subtler than others?
R4:
'Can we evaluate the information that is presented to us in blogs and Second Life,
and from that, make informed decisions?' (about whether it is a good source,
whether we can trust it, etc.)
R1 and R2 concern the 'how' and 'why' of persona adoption, and R3 seeks to identity different
extents of the process.
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R4 differs from the other research questions because it looks at information use in the two online
environments holistically, although persona adoption is considered in terms of identity-related
information. Uncertainty surrounding identity is certainly an issue which affects the quality of
information in online environments. Donath (1999) states:
In communication...knowing the identity of those with whom you communicate is
essential for understanding and evaluating an interaction
And similarly, Parker (2008b) says students in SL "need to...learn how to evaluate other people's
authenticity and credentials". Taking such measures are not always possible with blogs and SL, so
being able to assess the level of persona adoption in the information we consume and knowing
how to evaluate what is presented to us represent the 'next best things' for understanding
information.
1.3 Value of the research
This research is concerned with digital literacy and information literacy in terms of the way
information is communicated (both one-to-many and one-to-one), understood and evaluated in
online environments.
To date, there have been few comparative studies of SL and blogging, meaning their common
features and differences have not yet been considered in any great depth. This research therefore
provides a unique focus and will add to the body of knowledge about user behaviour in online
communities - doing so is valuable, as people inhabit such environments in increasing numbers.
Many important studies on the adoption of personae have been conducted in the internet age by
Donath (1999), Turkle (1995) and others. However, the amount of literature using the metaphor of
'the mask' (Danet, 1998) has decreased, with research taking other directions, such as looking at
avatars specifically. Therefore, there is a gap in modern research which this project can fill.
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1.4 Chapter summary
Introduction
The subject matter of the research project is here explained and placed into context.
Definitions of blogging and Second Life are provided, as are key terms in this project such as
'persona adoption'. Research aims and objectives are outlined, and the value of the
research is discussed.
Literature review
This chapter reviews literature relevant to the research. The literature is summarised in a
thematic structure, with work of the early scholars of persona adoption placed against the
modern blogging and SL literature. Literature is cited with the research questions in mind
and areas where the evidence is strong and leaves gaps are identified.
Methodology
Research methods used in the project such as qualitative research, semi-structured
interviews and grounded theory are all discussed here; some rejected data collection tools
and the sampling of participants also feature.
Discussion of results
In this chapter, the research findings are explained and analysed. Quotes and collated
responses from participants are analysed and are structured into seven categories.
Integration of literature
The literature is here introduced and compared with the categorised findings from the
previous chapter. The literature supports findings in some instances, providing evidence
which reinforces project claims, but in other areas it can be seen that there is a gap
between findings and literature.
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Conclusion
In this concluding section, research questions are first compared to findings before a
summary of key findings is given. Limitations of the research are considered and
recommendations for future research are made.
Reflective report
This section reflects on the experience of conducting research and writing the dissertation.
The researcher considers his feelings about the project and where future performance can
be improved.
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Chapter 2
2 Literature review
2.1 Introduction
This literature review first examines work by Erving Goffman and Marcel Mauss, before
focussing on how this persona adoption featured in early virtual worlds such as chatrooms
and multi-user dungeons (MUDs).
Various themes from the literature such as 'avatars' and 'disinhibition' are addressed and
form the structure of this literature review; they are examined in either a blogging or SL
context, and where possible, both. Goffman and Mauss's theories will also be applied to
modern literature in attempt to evaluate their current relevance.
2.2 Early scholars
2.2.1
Marcel Mauss
The concept of adopting the role one wishes to have rather than the role one does have was first
introduced in terms of adopting personae and masking identity in 1938 by Mauss (1979).
Mauss also claimed that the word 'persona' translates from the Latin for 'mask' (Mauss,
1979 : 83), evidencing not only the link between these two processes, but also suggesting
that identity masking can be perceived as falling within the realm of persona adoption.
Mauss also finds that later interpretations of 'persona' can describe a "superimposed
image" (Mauss, 1979 : 83). This is a wider, more flexible concept than simply a physical
mask - Mauss cites the symbolism that Celtic vessel decorations would give their
inhabitants as an example of the persona transcending the tangible mask, but because the
concept has now widened, and we can now consider the computer mediated
communication as a 'vessel'.
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2.2.2
Erving Goffman
In his seminal 1959 work The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Goffman (1990) analyses
interpersonal interaction and, using a theatrical metaphor, how individuals 'perform' in
order to project a desirable image. Brown (1998 : 162) calls this performance "self
presentation", considering that the technique provides us with a way to form new identities
and thus convince ourselves we are this enhanced person.
One of Goffman's key arguments is that individuals have both expressions that they 'give'
and those that they 'give off' (Goffman, 1990 : 14). In the case of the former, impressions
that the individual intends to produce are communicated, but with the latter, impressions
that were not intended to be given are, and are received by the audience.
2.2.3
The application of Goffman
It can be imagined that the giving and the giving off of expression processes could be
carried across to computer-mediated communication, including the spheres of blogs and
SL. In fact, the computer, more than being just an implement for efficient working, has the
potential to allow us to explore our self (Turkle, 1984) and it is through the computer's
applications that people access blogs and SL.
When Goffman was writing, online communities were not established, but Miller (1995)
explains that electronic interaction is a natural extension to what Goffman posited. In 1995,
he found that the ways to interact electronically were rather basic, lacking the 'richness'
that is found in face-to-face interaction, but that as technology improves, "more expressive
resources become available" and he envisaged that "electronic communication will become
more and more human communication". The emulation of verbal interaction in electronic
interaction is also discussed by Levinson (1999).
Facial expressions are a good example of Miller's 'richness'. Beyond emoticons or images,
there was no way to for users to communicate their facial expression through email and
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forums, but with SL in 2003 came 3D avatars. Avatars possess scope for basic facial
expression, and by utilising software, users can achieve subtlety (Kidd, 2009). 'Richness' is
therefore permeating SL.
Since 1995, blogging technology has advanced to include web 2.0 and multimedia features
such as photos, videos, 'gadgets', favourite music, personal biography, 'friends' lists, and
links to the blogger's social networking profiles (Blogger, 2010). All of these, in addition to
highly customisable backgrounds, allow bloggers to present a wide range of identity
indicators (Hodkinson and Lincoln, 2008) and therefore introduce 'richness' to their
communications.
2.3 Early virtual worlds
The 1990s saw the emergence of online chatrooms, forums and MUDs.
These online environments are text-based, with users generally interacting by typing
messages and either sending them directly to another user or posting them for various
other users to see. They are less sophisticated than modern blogs which, although they are
also environments where text is key, now feature sophisticated graphics, gadgets, and web
2.0 features such as 'friends' lists and colourful backgrounds. The simple text-based
interface also appears to be several generations behind the 3D graphical world of SL.
2.3.1
The IRC
Shaw (1997) cites Internet Relay Chat ('the IRC') as the best example of chatting over the
internet. Users' avatars here are nicknames or 'handles', and the textual conversation
resembles the script of a play. A lack of physical clues about users exists in the IRC, meaning
that the expressions we 'give off' according to Goffman (1990) might not be relevant here,
but Shaw (1997) finds that IRCers compensate for such absences to an extent with a
number of techniques such as short physical descriptions, asterisks signifying physical
actions, and the use of emoticons (which are discussed as a form of expression in this kind
of environment by (Baym, 1998)).
In such contexts, "the typed text provides the mask" (Danet, 1998 : 129). Very little
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information about the user was available for others to see, and as such, mystery reigned
and identity masking persona adoption is easy. Meadows (2008 : 9) recalls that his first
avatar in 1993 was "a string of six letters"; compare this with his modern SL avatar, Pighed
Stonecutter (Figure 2) which provides much more visual information about the man behind
the screen.
Figure 2: Stephen Meadows's SL avatar, 'Pighed Stonecutter'
2.3.2
Gender swapping and MUDs
Gender swapping was reported to be a common phenomenon as both genders explored
what interaction is like from the other side of the sexual divide and female users presented
themselves as male to avoid harassment (Bruckman, 1996; Danet, 1998; Dickel, 1995;
Turkle, 1995). Duchenaut et al. (2009) have since shown this continues to occur in SL (see
Chapter 2.42: 'Avatars in Second Life and blogging').
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Of the MUD environment, Turkle (1995 : 12) finds MUDs:
provide worlds for anonymous social interaction in which one can play a
role as close to or as far away from one's "real self" as one chooses
This seems the perfect environment for persona adoption and identity masking, perhaps
more so than blogging or SL, as in these environments interaction is not so anonymous –
there is either a whole blog or a sophisticated avatar to provide information about the user,
but not so in the MUD. Role playing also seems natural, almost intuitive in this
environment, not the case in blogging, where the environment is primarily understood to
be a place to disseminate information. In fact, MUDs are such welcoming backdrops for
role-play that they might be belittled, viewed as 'fantasy places' where users simply go to
dispense with their real life (RL) altogether (Bell, 2002 : 175). Bell warns about such
patronising and argues this environment can be helpful when dealing with problems in
users' lives. However:
Despite this argument, such environments affect our ability to believe other
users in online interaction and, from an information literacy standpoint,
makes us question how trustworthy an information source the web is
(Hine, 2000 : 119)
Let us now consider the development of a more complex persona - the concept and use of
the modern avatar.
2.4 Avatars
2.4.1
What is an avatar?
Taken from the Sanskrit, 'avatar' refers to the personification of a god or immortal life form
(Boelstorff, 2008; Waggoner, 2009). Gods would essentially become human to interact with
mortals, descending to join them on the basic level of physicality.
In SL, an avatar is the "graphical representation of a virtual world resident" (Boelstorff, 2008
: 251) directly controlled by the user, who takes the role of the god in this sense.
As the user's representative in the virtual environment, avatars are central to the SL
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experience, but the literature shows they are less commonly referred to within blogging.
The avatar has been seen as a kind of face for the user of an online environment, and its
appearance demonstrates their role or interests (Donath, 2001). Meadows (2008 : 13)
discusses the concept of the avatar in depth, offering this definition:
an avatar is an interactive, social representation of a user
These open interpretations allow us to understand that avatars are applicable to both blogs
and SL, rather than just the latter. Many uses of the term 'avatar' in popular culture,
however, conceptualise a 3D representation of the self, such as in Neal Stephenson's (1993)
novel Snow Crash or James Cameron's (2009) film Avatar. There is a digital association too in Stephenson's book, users access their avatar through a computer generated
environment called The Metaverse and user representations are fully electronic, whereas in
Cameron's film, the avatars themselves are organic beings (the Na'vi), but they are
controlled by humans via a computer interface.
Black (2008) however, offers an appealingly simple definition:
It means my online image or presence
'image' can be interpreted as 2D (such as a profile photo), and 'presence' 3D, meaning
avatars transcend dimensions, and can be considered for blogging and SL. Indeed, anything
that represents the user in social interaction qualifies as an avatar according to Meadows,
who also states:
sometimes an avatar is a photo, sometimes it's a drawing; it can be based
on a real person's appearance or look nothing like them Meadows (2008 : 13)
Two views can be taken here regarding blogs: either the profile picture as seen on the
'about me' page or any other obvious representation of the user is the avatar, or the whole
blog is the avatar, as social interaction occurs when the readers of the blog consume the
information left for them by the blogger. Meadows argues that the avatar is a flexible
concept, and proceeds to cite as examples Mario from the video game Super Mario
Brothers, characters from The Sims, the characters in WoW, and even the playing pieces in
a game of chess.
It may be best to take the blogging avatar as the first view, as there is no evidence in the
literature of a whole blog being considered a user's avatar.
Huffaker (2004) states that avatars "help form a construction of persona, even a 'public
mask'", suggesting they are a powerful tool in the process of persona adoption.
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2.4.2
Avatars in Second Life and blogging
The SL avatar is a 3D self-representation and, according to Jensen (2009), the user's
'mediator' in the virtual world (interestingly, Jensen also refers to virtual word users as
'actors'). Many residents choose to present themselves as human, but almost any form is
possible, and communities of vampire and 'furry' avatars exist (Rymaszewski et al., 2007).
As understood through Goffman (1990), the SL environment is a stage with RL the
backstage, and these particular 'actors' strongly invest in their 'costume' – wishing to
provoke the desired reaction from other SL users.
SL provides users with the opportunity to present themselves as a member of the opposite
sex (amongst many other options) and interact with others via a new persona. And indeed,
Duchenaut et al. (2009) report that more SL residents gender-swap than WoW or Maple
Story users, in fact, the phenomenon is "particularly prevalent in SL, with a large number of
male players favouring female avatars". In this same study, avatar customisation was found
to be more important to SL users than in other virtual worlds, suggesting they place great
value on how they present themselves. Finally, by comparing the RL user directly with their
avatar, the researchers declared:
users prefer avatars that look better, are fitter and stand out more than they
do in real life – a form of identity exploration, to be sure, but a somewhat
one-sided version of it
A paradox is evident. As Jones (2006) and Welles (2007) find (see chapter 2.8 'Race and
conforming'), users conform to certain ideals through their avatars, but the impact of online
disinhibition (see next section) means that, at the same time, they highlight themselves
more than in RL. Interestingly, it seems that 'persona adoption' is a more apt label than
'identity exploration' here, as by its nature it only goes in one direction – towards the
desired self.
Within a blogging context, avatars are commonly understood to be 2D self-representations
designed by the user and are based on their appearance (Hemp, 2006; Vasalou et al., 2007;
Vasalou et al., 2008; Vasalou and Joinson, 2009); they can often appear as a cartoon
likeness, such as Yahoo! (2010) avatars, or the representations companies such as
cartoonyourworld.com (2010) produce when customers upload a photo.
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Vasalou et al. (2007) find that 'animated' avatars have been consistently popular in SL, but
avatars (as understood above) were not commonly used for blogging until Yahoo! made
them useable within a range of services (of which blogging is one) in 2004.
The avatar, along with colourful graphics and gadgets, can be part of the whole package of
the second generation blog, or 'mini home page', which is concerned with the self
presentation above, using the blog to disseminate information (Park et al., 2004).
In terms of the avatar faithfully representing the user, blogging avatars have been shown to
demonstrate more accurate representations in comparison with online dating and gaming,
but may also include "desired lifestyles or self improvements" in their self-depiction
(Vasalou and Joinson, 2009) which suggests users are adopting the roles they wish to have,
as seen in Mauss's (1979) understanding of the persona.
Blogging avatars have been shown to be a useful self presentation tool, providing a
graphical aspect for users that the blog's text cannot:
I make my avatar in my blog reflect my emotion for the specific day.
That is, the avatar is my other self. For example, when I'm happy, I
clothe my avatar with bright colors, but when I feel sad, my avatar
wears dark colors and has a crying face (Lee et al., 2008)
Both blogging and SL avatars are subject to transformed social interaction (Bailenson and
Beall, 2006). This phenomenon means that with the advent of avatars, users have been able
to emphasise and minimise certain aspects of self, such appearance or behaviour. This has
become possible because users are now editors - designing and creating their self
representations, choosing what to bring to the foreground or hide in the background.
This would suggest that, given more control over interaction, users now completely manage
what expressions they both 'give' and 'give off' (Goffman, 1990); this is not so, however, as
information is still inadvertently communicated through avatars – a user's choice of
representation in an online poker game may for example, express too much and
'unwittingly' reveal potential weaknesses in their game (Golder and Donath, 2004;
23
Sasseman, 2009).
What an avatar communicates about a user can also perhaps be given too much credence.
Young users especially may at an experimental stage of their lives, simply use avatars to
adopt personae for the purposes of playful exploration and not to truly represent or distort
the self (Kafai et al., 2010).
Given the ability to manipulate personal image through the adoption of an avatar, how do
users exploit this? This is discussed in the following section.
2.5 Disinhibition
2.5.1
The online disinhibition effect and netiquette
Suler's (2005) 'online disinhibition effect' occurs when, during online interaction, users act
in extremely positive (benign) or negative (toxic) ways towards others due to the
concealment provided by the internet. Danet (1998) also notes that online communication
disinhibits, and Boellstorff (2008) finds the phenomenon is applicable to both SL and
blogging. However, Reid (1999 : 112) discussing disinhibition in MUDs, reminds us:
Being disinhibited is not the same as being uninhibited. MUD users experience
a redefinition of social inhibitions; they do not experience the annihilation of
them...there is no moment on an MUD in which users are not enmeshed within
a web of social rules and expectations
Individuals therefore, encouraged by separation and the absence of effective
retaliation, are encouraged to adopt a different online persona or personae, but the
effect is finite in that they may feel the need to observe rules and conventions local
to the online community or environment. This falls within the concept of online
etiquette, or 'netiquette'. In following the rules of netiquette, a blogger might check
their newfound freedom of expression when, for example writing about their
employer (Strawbridge, 2006). The employer holds influence over the employee in
24
the professional relationship and thus the threat of retaliation (in the form of
sacking, suspension, etc.) re-emerges, even when online.
Rather than create a new self however, users might use online disinhibition to
present their 'true' or 'inner' selves, finding that they cannot do this in face-to-face
conversation (Bargh et al., 2002). This is perhaps because such interaction is too
difficult or threatening.
2.5.2
Griefing (and kindness)
Whitworth (2009 : 49-50) identifies and challenges a general assumption that in online
interaction, "any 'identity play' is positive", noting that environments can be ruined for
users by others' anti-social behaviour or through undesirable interactions with other users
pretending to be someone else.
In virtual worlds, toxic behaviour is manifested as 'griefing' and can include making an
avatar feel 'raped', verbal abuse, or vandalism (Boellstorff, 2008). Meadows (2008) provides
an account from World of Warcraft whereby a virtual funeral conducted by in-world friends
for a RL user was sabotaged by a rival group as they disputed the use of the land.
Toxic behaviour also occurs on blogs and websites. Women are particularly vulnerable, and
Jessica Valenti (2007) argues that misogyny is not only evident online, but is exacerbated by
the anonymity users can adopt when replying to a blog thread. Valenti herself has been a
victim of abuse by bloggers – this occurred during a photoshoot with Bill Clinton when her
positioning was interpreted as attempt to sexualise her image. It has been thought that this
reaction was due to her feminist blogging activities (Funk, 2006).
Toxic behaviour does not take place by default in virtual communities however, (Boellstorff, 2008;
Foster, 1997) and it should emphasised that altruistic behaviour, or 'kindness' also occurs
(Boellstorff, 2008) but that this does not receive the same level of attention from the
media.
25
The following section discusses how users mediate the interaction between real and online
identities.
2.6
2.6.1
New selves
Online selves
It has been argued that the potential to perform and present a new identity is even greater
online - as the distance between performer and audience makes it easy to conceal aspects
of the offline self and embellish the online, to the extent of creating 'new selves' (Vaast,
2007). Alternatively, the 'online self' can be thought of as an aspect of a wider identity,
joining the self in other offline contexts:
blogs, YouTube and Facebook help us have an "online self" parallel with one's
"work self", or "family self". In technologies such as Second Life, and even
text-based media…people can play with identity, move in and out of "virtual
communities" on a whim, and even pretend to be someone they are not
(Whitworth, 2008 : 49)
However the self is conceptualised, both Whitworth and Vaast argue that online identity
facilitates persona adoption. Going further, the online self could be divided into 'the
blogging self' and 'the SL self', both opposed to the 'real life self'. However, Waggoner
(2009 : 1) encounters a problem with such terminology:
virtual identities, created and maintained by users' non-virtual identities,
may be just as "real" to users as their non-virtual identities. Therefore, this
study recommends replacing the term "real-world" with "non-virtual"
Users then, may not appreciate their online identities being distanced from reality by their
being opposed to the 'real world'. Online identity is posited as 'other' to what is actually
happening, and therefore appears to have less value.
2.6.2
Blended identity
Baker (2009) introduces the concept of 'blended identity', whereby the offline-self informs
the creation of the new, online-self which then re-informs the offline-self in further
26
interaction with those the individual first met online. The 'mask' is therefore donned when
online and left on in future interpersonal interaction, with the audience ignorant that a
different face lies beneath. Baker might not appreciate this analogy though, as she wishes
future research to transcend "the bifurcated typology of honesty vs. deception in selfpresentation" (Baker, 2009) and Carrington (2009) prefers to look at the continuities and
tensions between the online and offline person.
In defence of his approach, the researcher would note that blended identity is only
applicable when individuals actually meet face-to-face - not many bloggers meet their
readers and SL users who meet as avatars will not necessarily move the relationship beyond
a virtual one.
2.6.3
Persona play
Boellstorff (2008) has gathered many illuminating accounts from SL on the topic of identity.
Some can be summarised as such:

Users soon cease role-playing and subsequently become themselves

regardless of intentions, people behave slightly differently when interacting online

most people engage with SL as themselves

people online conceal some personality traits and emphasise others
These comments are found to support the view that virtual and real-life selves are different
and that "persona-play" does occur in SL. However, thinking seems polarised between
those who observe persona-play and those who believe SL behaviour is a true reflection of
the offline self - in addition to the first account, Katz (2006) learns that she brought a very
accurate version of her actual self into SL, and that after a 'warm-up' period, users relax in
their avatars and adopt many pastimes that they do in their real lives.
2.6.4
Second blogs and 'alts'
Maintaining multiple blogs means the blogger can create different personae to suit each
blog, and so the RL self is effectively broken up with its varying readerships receiving
different information (McCullagh, 2008). Some of these blogs could be anonymous, with
27
the blogger disseminating risqué or inappropriate subject matter away from their primary
blog via a second blog:
they present their established (real or virtual) identity, and in their other weblogs,
they write under other pseudonyms about issues which are not possible to discuss
in their main weblog (Amir-Ebrahimi, 2004)
Here, there is a primary online self, but when needed a second persona is utilised, and to
avoid its output compromising either the RL self or the primary online self, identity is
masked.
The SL equivalent of the second blog is the alternative avatar, or 'alt'. These are additional
avatars and are used for differing purposes to the primary one (Boelstorff, 2008; Diehl and
Prins, 2008) and can be independent of the core avatar in that they may have a different
appearance, different friends, etc. though the user behind them remains the same. The
very fact that alts are an option for SL users means that they may in fact not have a main
avatar and that the different aspects of their identity are distributed among several avatars
of equal significance. This is unlikely however, as it was found that 98% of SL users are able
to cite one particular avatar as their primary representation (Ducheneaut et al., 2009).
2.6.5
Impersonation
Impersonation can occur where one avatar is operated by multiple users. (Boellstorff, 2008
: 131-2) uses the following conversation in SL to illustrate this:
GERI: Seth, you have the most amazing muscley muscles
SETH: Little secret...I'm the wife playing for Seth til he gets home, lol
LINA: Hiya Seth :)
GERI: LOL
LINA: Awesome lol
Here, Seth's wife has masked her identity by hiding behind her husband's. But given that
the person imitating Seth is obviously trusted and happy to tell his friends, the issue does
28
not appear serious. Impersonation occurred in online forums in the past with more severe
effects (the impersonator, disinhibited, might post controversial or defamatory comments)
and could simply happen because the original user "provided a useful identity for the user
to hide behind" (Donath, 1999 : 51).
Goffman (1990) finds that people wear a number of different masks when in public. When
thinking about this in terms of second blogs and alts, the plural is interesting – how many
masks? Even though in the communities of blogging and SL users can adopt a mask, further
avatars or blogs may be needed to adopt the appropriate number of masks for sufficient
self expression.
In masking identity, various tools are available to the user; some of these are discussed in
the following section.
2.7 Self-censorship and pseudonymity
2.7.1
Self-censorship
Bloggers writing in less-democratic countries may have to exercise self-censorship to avoid
government filtering, arrest (Alavi, 2005 : 2-4) and trial for distributing propaganda
(Whitaker, 2010) which can mean avoiding discussing politically-sensitive topics. Iranian
bloggers were shown to employ three tactics here: commentating on events rather than
stating personal opinion, using metaphor and analogy, and writing anonymously or
pseudonymously (Rigby, 2007). This, understood through Goffman (1959 : 14) means
Iranian bloggers showing their true identities carefully edit the messages they 'give' their
audience and must hope they are 'giving off' nothing. It can interpreted that, by selfcensoring, these bloggers are forced to present a politically-acceptable persona, but
attempt to broadcast their true selves indirectly by using the first two tactics or are being
forced to mask identity due to political pressures.
Enjoying anonymity by the adoption of a pseudonym means bloggers writing in democratic
countries need not censor themselves at all. Sex blogs - which are generally anonymous allow bloggers to write, "with total abandon. No taboos, no restrictions by the so-called
rules of polite society" (Jakubowski, 2005). However, beyond blogging there is a general
29
move away from using pseudonyms, as social networking websites encourage users to
share as much personal information as possible (Kiss, 2010). It can perhaps be understood
then, that bloggers who continue to utilise a pseudonym have particular reasons for doing
so.
2.7.2
Pseudonymity
Belle de Jour (Magnanti, 2010a) and Nightjack (Horton, 2009) were examples of bloggers
emancipated by pseudonymity until the authors were forced to reveal their identity
(Magnanti, 2010b) (Hirsch, 2009). In earlier posts, the bloggers could write anything that
came to mind without fear of it affecting personal image or relationship with employer
(Siddique, 2009), but once unmasked, Nightjack's eponymous blog was deleted and any
controversial comment made by 'Belle' would be damaging as it would attributed to the
researcher Brooke Magnati - as such, the nature of what the blog can provide has changed
for its writer.
With the loss of their pseudonym, Goffman (1990) might feel that the bloggers have been
unmasked on stage and that they must now minimise the expressions they 'give' to the
audience, as those 'given off' in self presentation could now cause substantial damage.
The following section discusses how users "tailor" themselves to conform to a conventional
view of what is acceptable culturally, racially or in terms of physical appearance.
2.8 Race and conforming
2.8.1
Lisa Nakamura
Nakamura (2000) noted that 'racial passing' occurs in LambdaMOO, an online community
for discussion. Due to the essentially anonymous environment of this role-playing website,
all users were said to be concealing their race (and other details) by default. LambdaMOO
30
is, as Goffman (1990) would see it, an environment where expressions are minimised, so
they cannot be 'given off' and as such users engage in a kind of 'masked ball'.
Nakamura, (2004) also introduces the idea of 'identity tourism' and later develops it.
Identity tourism occurs when a user of an online environment utilises the anonymity
granted to them to adopt a different gender or race. Once doing this, the user, knowing
nothing about being say, female or black (or both) would behave and talk in a stereotypical
way with the result that they later feel they know how it is to inhabit this 'other' skin.
2.8.2 Conforming
Identity tourism is a concerning practice, as is a tendency for SL users to conform:
While Second Life offers users avatar sets that reflect ethnic diversity, most
users opt for an avatar that conforms to the ideal of beauty in American culture
that is 20-something, toned/buxom and white (Jones, 2006)
Ducheneaut et al. (2009) also find that users across three virtual worlds (including SL) aim
for the Western concept of beauty, and that older or under/overweight users especially
create "leaner, younger, more fashionable versions of themselves".
Further from this, Welles (2007) finds that black avatars are rare in SL, labelling it "the
whitest environment I've ever experienced" and speculates that many black users are using
white avatars in order to be accepted. Nakamura (2008) agrees that "there are social
advantages to being white in-game" and among the literature there is little to contradict
this sentiment, other than Eboni Khan's remark that "race is pretty much a non-issue here"
(Au, 2005).
Another example of the advantages of conforming can be seen in Nowak and Rauh's (2008)
conclusion that those who choose avatars which are clearly gendered (i.e. distinctly female
or male) and based on the image of a human will be taken as being more credible than
those who do not, for instance furries.
31
Referring once again to Goffman, we might say that those who attempt to match
convention in SL are 'cynical performers', "whose audiences will not allow them to be
sincere" (Goffman, 1990 : 29).
An environment that socially pressures users to swap race and that also features identity
tourism is logically subject to unreliable information. There is therefore is a genuine need
for SL users to be able to evaluate the information with which they are presented.
The focus of the Literature Review now moves to the loss of anonymity in the next section,
'unmasking and failing to mask'.
2.9 Unmasking and failing to mask
2.9.1
Language analysis and voices
Language analysis can detect the gender and perhaps in later studies, personality
type of a blogger, which rather than being used to unmask a writer, could
potentially help readers evaluate information (Nowson and Oberlander, 2006),
questioning whether the blogger (the source of information) really is who they
claim. The problem here though, is that knowledge of such identification techniques
would mean a blogger could adapt their prose to reduce the technique's
effectiveness.
In SL, users can choose to speak using their RL voices (Parker, 2008b). This means
user evaluation can occur during interaction by comparing the voice heard to the
person being presented. For instance, a princess avatar with a male voice would be
instantly suspicious! Voice however, can be changed using specialised software to
conceal who is speaking (Boulos et al., 2006) or be left out altogether in favour of
text.
32
Language or voice analysis would seem to be exactly the kind of process Goffman
(1990) was thinking about when introduced the expressions we 'give off'. By using a
small amount of leaked, incidental information, readers of blogs or SL users can
examine the information the blogger/SL user gives off and compare this to the self
being presented.
2.9.2
Failure to mask: the danger of your digital past
In Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, Mayer-Schonberger (2009)
argues that the internet 'never really forgets' and disclosing too much information
can cause problems for individuals such as jeopardising their careers. As an
example, he cites the case of Stacy Snyder, who after posting a drunken photo on
Myspace, was refused her teaching diploma from the university at which she was
studying. Related accounts include medical students reducing their employment
opportunities because of inappropriate social networking material (Thompson et
al., 2008) information written on blogs being used against their authors during job
applications (Tribble, 2005) and employers using social networking as a 'hiring tool' successfully distinguishing high from low performers by using their profiles
(Kluemper and Rosen, 2009) provide strong reasons for bloggers and SL users to
mask identity.
As established earlier, information on the World Wide Web is not always reliable,
coupled with the seemingly limitless possibilities offered by advanced software, SL
users face many potential social hazards, extending to unknowingly engaging in
communication with another user who may prove to be non-human; this is
discussed below.
33
2.10 Robots posing as human
2.10.1 Chatbots
A chatbot is a "computer program designed to mimic human communication" (Holtgraves
and Han, 2007).
These programs exist in SL as 'bots' - not avatars that are completely controlled by
software, but rather "automated entities" (Boellstorff, 2008 : 131) whereby software
directs the avatar to do one specific task such as buying property. Boellstorff found that
users were mistaken for bots in certain situations and asked to demonstrate that they were
human.
The chatbot's ability to mislead by presenting itself as human has been noted by Turkle
(1995) who records conversations between 'Julia' and a the user of a MUD, who, believing
they are talking to a female user, flirts with Julia and requests personal information from
'her' throughout a lengthy exchange.
In order to imitate an individual, chatbot software can now be applied to the personality of
a specific person (Geddes, 2010) and has been used to deceive in an online dating website
(Epstein, 2007) so there could be the potential for a chatbot to produce a blog or fullycontrol a SL avatar which could present itself as human. There is no instance in the
literature of the former, but research into 'metabots', SL avatars fully-controlled by robots
has been conducted (Arroyo et al., 2009).
However, it has been noted that there are many shortcomings in chatbot software and that
through a sustained conversation humans should generally be able to distinguish a chatbot
from a human (Geddes, 2010; Turkle, 1995).
2.10.2 The application of Goffman & Mauss
Chatbots and metabots may be an area where the early scholars' theories are no longer
relevant.
34
Goffman (1990) discussed human interaction alone, because at the time of writing (1959)
robots and software had not been invented. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life does
not consider the self presentation of non-humans. However, it is true that, posed with a
particularly complicated or esoteric question, the chatbot might not be able to retrieve the
necessary information from its database to respond and expose itself as non-human - in
this case, the chatbot may, (true to Goffman) 'give off' an expression in the form of a
confused response, thus revealing it to be a program. To avoid such a situation, 'Julia'
(discussed above) has a mechanism in place whereby the program changes the subject to
safer ground, such as ice hockey (Turkle, 1995).
Regarding Mauss's interpretation of persona as mask, if humans wear a mask when they
adopt a persona, then what is a robot doing when it poses as a human? Does a double
masking occur? Perhaps the widening of the term, the "superimposed image" (Mauss, 1979
: 83) is still relevant, though it is unclear when basing such early research against such a
modern phenomenon.
This literature review now considers how the embellishment of a user's online 'space' can
demonstrate a good deal, visually, about the chosen persona in a multi-dimensional
fashion.
2.11 Personal space
2.11.1 Communicating interests
Personal space can be used to express identity too, and persona adoption could
occur through customising environments. An example is a hall of residence in SL
where students are invited to decorate their virtual rooms in order to communicate
interests, opinions and (potentially) beliefs to others in the learning community
(Robbins, 2006). SL has more potential than RL here, as there is literally an opendoor policy - users are free to enter each other's rooms, view furnishings, posters
on the wall, and even the music collection.
35
SL allows its users to buy land, and once property is built, it can be customised. To
complement the construction of the online persona through the avatar, the virtual
home can communicate information about the owner through location, decoration,
and even virtual pets (Webber, 2010) (Figure 3).
Figure 3: identity traits are communicated through the decoration of personal space in SL
2.11.2 Creating a desirable impression
Malaby (2009 : 21) recalls that not only would possessing personal space allow him to
present himself as a "knowledgeable" and "competent" SL user, but that not possessing
somewhere to invite friends would represent a kind of failure.
SL property has even greater potential than RL property for this kind of expression as
weather conditions and time of day may be chosen by the user (Linden Research, 2010).
The online domain provided by blogs provides users with a space that has been compared
to young peoples' bedrooms, in that it is highly personal and has excellent potential for
exhibiting aspects of self and experimentation with identity (Hodkinson and Lincoln, 2008).
36
Managing their space to show the links, photos and friends lists they want can allow
bloggers to present the persona they want to:
Consistent with this, users typically spend considerable time creating a
unique overall look for their online journal, through the use of a range
of images, symbols and background designs symbolic of different facets
of their identity (Hodkinson and Lincoln, 2008)
Applying Goffman's (1990) theatrical metaphor here, personal space in SL and blogging is
the stage we as actors set and is part of self expression. By decorating space, users
embellish the constructed persona, but it means that extra clues are available to indicate
the identity of those who engage in masking - Miller (1995) infers that links on a homepage
lead tell you about the person who posted them, so therefore links in a blog and furniture
in a SL home could achieve the same phenomenon.
Online personal space would seem to have the potential to be a 2D/3D profile in itself, but
currently there is little literature in this area.
2.12 Teenage bloggers
Similar to the effect of 'transformed social interaction' (Bailenson and Beall, 2006)
(see chapter 2.4 'Avatars') bloggers have been found to employ a process of
repression and supplementation in self presentation (Lee et al., 2008), whereby
certain details about the self are withheld and replaced by adapted or completely
new ones to present an enhanced self, echoing Mauss.
Rather than adopting different personae, Huffaker and Calvert (2005) find
teenagers used their blogs to further examine 'who they really are' and are happy to
not only disclose highly personal information such as sexuality, but discuss it in
depth.
37
Castells (2001 : 118) previously found that the majority of online role-playing and
persona adoption was conducted by teenagers, and he rationalises this by noting:
Teenagers are the people who are in the process of discovering their identity, of
experimenting with it, of finding out who they really are or would like to be
In doing this, Castells highlights teenagers as a group of people who have specific
reasons and motivations for adopting personae.
2.13 Conclusion
This study of the literature has identified various phenomena relating to identity
masking and persona adoption within blogs and SL and has also considered
consistencies and problems with applying Goffman and Mauss's earlier work to this
subject. Goffman's work in particular, can be widely applied to the blogging and SL
literature, but does face problems in some areas - the deceptive potential of
chatbots for example, because Goffman's scope does not extent to the non-human
posing as human.
There are imbalances in the literature on various sub-topics – for instance, many
scholars have written on the subject of avatars, but work on the use of personal
space to communicate identity is scarce.
A number of concerning issues have been highlighted that will be taken into
consideration for the research and discussion of results stages, such as the
possibility of offending interviewees by talking about their 'real lives' as opposed to
their 'online lives', and that users experimenting with identity could simply be using
blogs or SL for 'playing' or trying on new identities without their behaviour having
any significant impact on the self.
The literature has informed the interview questions, and in some cases it has
directly shaped them – for instance, the researcher will ask bloggers if they use any
38
links or gadgets in their blogs, as Hodkinson and Lincoln (2008) found that
decorating their space in this fashion is one way that bloggers use to present
themselves. I will extend this concept to ask SL users how they decorate their
online space.
39
Chapter 3
3 Methodology
3.1 An empirical, inductive study
This research takes an empirical approach, observing that persona adoption takes place to
some extent in blogs and SL, but that research is needed to formulate a theory; therefore
this is an inductive study.
3.2 Qualitative research
This research is concerned with persona adoption, and as such its subject matter is
ambiguous. The complex nature of online identity lends itself not to the collection of
statistics, but richer data such as opinions, observations and anecdotes.
The perceptions and viewpoints of users are important here, both of which are the domain
of qualitative, rather than quantitative research (Gorman and Clayton, 1997; Bell, 2005).
Also because this research focuses on intricate identity behaviour within two online
communities, the 'contextual sensitivity' qualitative research can provide represents a
significant advantage over quantitative methods (Silverman, 2006).
There are problems with qualitative interviewing however: the research population will be
small and as such, making general conclusions could be difficult if opinions differ.
Interpretation of data will be from the researcher's perspective alone, and as such will be
subjective. (Byman, 2008).
40
3.3 Rejected data collection methods
Questionnaires are an inexpensive method of data collection and can record opinions,
observations and anecdotes, but answers may not be recorded in any great depth, and
there is no scope for the researcher to ask follow-up questions when the issue is fresh in
the participant's mind (Bryman, 2008). Questionnaires therefore, were not employed.
Focus groups were considered as a potential data collection method as they are able to
facilitate discussion and participants can aid each other in articulating ideas, which cannot
happen with interviews (Bryman, 2008), but as a personal identity-themed discussion could
be quite delicate in nature, it was not felt that participants would feel they could be
completely candid about their views and share the information necessary. Also, focus
groups cannot offer complete confidentiality. A focus group in SL could provide some
anonymity and therefore a possible solution, but due to the author's relative inexperience
in SL, it was felt that this might be too ambitious a plan for the project's timescale.
3.4 Semi-structured interviews
Semi-structured interviews with a mixture of open and closed questions were used. This
method allows interviewees to answer questions flexibly, expanding on topics in which they
are interested (Bryman, 2008) but also provide unambiguous answers when required. The
data generated is high quality and in-depth (Bryman, 2008; Drever, 2003).
Open-ended questions however, can be difficult for interviewees to answer (FrankfortNachmias and Nachmias, 1992) so a set of prompts to either assist interviewees in
answering questions or disclose everything they were willing to impart (Drever, 2003) was
prepared by the researcher.
It was intended that the freedom of the non-prescriptive structure would elicit high quality
answers in the form of detailed accounts and anecdotes. Flexibility was also an advantage
as follow-up questions were able to be asked spontaneously and so achieve a great level of
depth in relation to the complicated issue of identity. A set list of questions was be used
however, in order to comprehensively address all aspects of the research aims.
41
There are few apparent disadvantages to semi-structured interviewing, however it can be
seen that a completely unstructured approach, possibly following a social activity with a
participant, might make them discuss subjects more freely due to a relaxed atmosphere
(Bryman, 2008). Taking each participant say, to the cinema before interview however, has
its obvious limitations. Participants might not have had the free time or be willing to
socialise first, and additional time would also be lost on the part of the researcher.
Nine interviews were conducted by the researcher and recorded using a digital audio
recording device. This provided the researcher with complete recall of the interview, and
meant he was able to listen to the playback several times in order to fully understand the
participants' answers, and also transcribe records of the interviews.
Ongoing desktop research was also used as a research method, and was specifically
conducted before and after interviews depending on the context, as participants were able
to indicate new directions for research.
3.5 Interviewing online
Nine of the ten interviews were conducted face-to-face. However, one participant was
interviewed via the World Wide Web using Oovoo, a video calling service similar to Skype.
The interview was recorded using Oovoo's own recording facility. Rather than simply being
inferior to face-to-face, the web-based interviewing method was helpful, the lack of a need
to physically meet meaning that actually interviewing the participant (based in Canada)
became possible, which could not have been the case in a face-to-face situation due to
travelling costs. This interview method therefore increased the potential 'pool' of
participants available to the researcher (Salmons, 2010 : 9).
For the purposes of participant anonymity, the interviewee was asked to deactivate their
webcam so the interview was audio-only. This meant that the participant was not able to
use body language to aid the researcher in communicating what they wished to say, but
having the participant speak in their own home environment possibly made them feel more
relaxed and thus prepared to "discuss sensitive or personal matters" (Salmons, 2010 : 9)
which persona adoption and identity masking can definitely be considered to be.
42
3.6 Sampling of participants
Due to ethical reasons, participants selected were competent adults not in dependent
relationships. They either:
a) actively write a personal blog or have experience of doing so;
b) are an active user of SL or have experience of being one; or
c) are active users of both
The first two kinds of participants were interviewed as either bloggers or SL users, with no
cross-over. This segregation is due to the research objective of analysing findings from each
medium individually before comparing at the conclusion stage and the practical issue of
sampling. Although recruiting participants solely from the third category may have
produced highly useful comparative data, identifying and recruiting sufficient numbers of
participants who both write a blog and use SL was thought to have presented too difficult a
task for the short period of this research.
Originally, it was intended that twelve participants were to be interviewed - six from type a)
and six from b). However, after further discussions with the research supervisor, it was
agreed that two participants from type c) would be used to provide data experience. As
additional data would be collected from this type of participant, the total number of
participants was reduced to ten and the following research sample emerged:
Type of participant
Quantity
Reference
(specialism)
Types of questions
Interview length
asked
Blogging
4
B1-B4
Blogging-specific
20-45 minutes
Second Life
4
SL1-SL4
Second Life-specific
20-45 minutes
Both
2
B+SL1-2
Blogging-specific
45-120 minutes
Second Life-specific
Comparative
Table 1: Table detailing the different kinds of participant
43
The process of identifying participants changed as it became clear that less than 12
participants in total were instantly available, but two type c)/'Both' participants were
available, and able to speak for longer than the originally-intended 45 minutes.
Finally, as participants were being asked to draw on experience when speaking about
blogging or SL, participants with a minimum of 12 months' experience were sought. This
was true of all but two participants. The following table shows participant experience:
No. of years experience
Blogging
SL
<1
1
1
1-2
0
1
3-4
3
2
5-6
1
1
7-8
1
1
Table 2: Table detailing participants' level of experience
3.7 Grounded theory
As befits an inductive study such as this, a grounded theory researcher:
does not begin a project with a preconceived theory in mind…rather the
researcher begins with an area of study and allows the theory to emerge
from the data (Strauss and Corbin, 1998 : 12)
Strauss and Corbin also emphasise the "close relationship" between data collection,
analysis and the final theory here. In relation to this project, this means that the literature
review, desktop research and interview data inform the analysis, which in turn also
suggests new avenues for further data collection. Any early theorising does this too and is
produced as a result of the other elements. A triangulation of research methods also means
that it becomes more difficult to misunderstand data, (Mäkelä and Turcan, 2007) with
many information sources providing voices that either agree or disagree about a point.
44
Bryman (2008) provides a list of the tools of grounded theory. Of these, 'theoretical
sampling' and 'theoretical saturation' were not employed, as this is a small-scale research
project and using such techniques in anything more than a superficial way would mean
over-estimating what can be achieved with the time allowed. Coding was central to the
process however. Interview transcriptions were studied by the researcher on several
occasions and notes were taken before certain themes emerged. Silverman (2007) argues
that in qualitative research, apparently inconsequential details can prove to be excellent
data, and so time was taken to study accounts all in responses, not just those that relate to
research questions.
Themes were then colour-coded using Microsoft Word and subsequently the highlighted
text was divided into categories and written-up to form the 'Discussion of results' section.
This was not exactly a linear process however, with the scope of several findings changing
and other, marginal theories being deleted. As such, constant comparison was inherent in
the process.
45
Chapter 4
4
Discussion of results: research findings
4.1 Introduction
Interview transcription has provided the researcher with a rich and extensive set of data.
Using grounded theory, data from each interview has been coded, and similar data placed
within themes. From this grouping, the seven following categories have emerged:







Expressions given
'Fitting in' - a key motivation for persona adoption
Recreating the offline self online
Dividing the self
Anonymity
Minor persona adoption through embellishment
Information evaluation techniques are not always needed
In order to satisfy the original research aims and objectives, categories relate to research
questions (although do not correspond exactly). Additional data has also been produced in
the form of the category 'recreating the offline self online', meaning the results have
provided information beyond the original remit of the research. Therefore, the scope of the
research has changed, and this will be reflected in the discussion of the results with the
literature and the conclusion.
4.2 Expressions given
Understood in terms of Goffman's (1990) concept of expressions we 'give' to others,
participants across blogging and SL were found to be keen to present themselves in certain
ways online. Such self expression informs research question R2: 'how do users adopt
different personae?'
46
Female participants were found to be keen to express their femininity using various
methods. Asked to describe her blog, B+SL2 said, "it's really pretty - pink with butterflies".
When asked this same question B1 immediately joked, "It's pink!" Answering a question
about deception, B4 stated "people know me, people see my picture, my profile, they all
know that I'm for example a she not a he". Pink and butterflies are symbolic of femininity,
whereas B4 cites her observable gender as being the clearest sign she does not deceive on
her blog.
Regarding SL, B+SL1 provided comments on her 'alt' (second avatar) who she uses as a
fashion avatar; relating to her love of feminine fashion she says "I spend a lot of
time…posing her and then taking photographs in SL and then blogging it" and
acknowledges that appearance is the main personal aspect communicated in her alt by
saying "she is more like 'dressing up dollies' to be honest in terms of her actual appearance".
Figure 4 shows an example post from B+SL1's fashion blog, which she uses to model her alt:
Figure 4: an example posting from B+SL1's alt's blog
The expression of femininity expands to name. B2 prefers to blog anonymously, using the
pseudonym 'Velvet Paws' and explains the reason for this choice by saying:
47
Well, Velvet Paws came about because I like velvet, and I like cats! I suppose it's
slightly feminine too, I wouldn't want to sound like a man
Although the participant elects to mask offline identity by using a pseudonym, giving the
impression of femininity is important, even though it means supplying an identity clue.
Interestingly, male participants did not present contrasting displays of masculinity to reaffirm their persona, suggesting that the need to express maleness is less important, or
rather when no other gender clues are provided, that it is assumed.
Appearing to be fun or creative online is also a consideration for participants. When asked
about her choice SL home, B+SL2 describes it by saying "It's in the tree house on the Infolit
iSchool Island. I chose the location because it was fun and unusual". Responding to the
same question, B+SL2 described her SL residence which includes "a kind of amazing alien
spaceship" this is clearly unusual, and the participant explains her reasons, showing an
appreciation of the imaginative "I really think it's art, actually, because it's extraordinary, it
makes noises as well and it has colours and odd shapes". In his early days in SL, SL2 recalls
walking around, "dressed in a wolf suit, stuff like that, you know just for a giggle and a
laugh". Fun here, directs the presentation of self.
The above are examples of SL users being playful and rejecting the need to be seen as
serious and professional-looking at all times. The blogging equivalent of showing one's
creative/fun is through humour, with B2 maintaining "I tend to write in a somewhat
humorous style, even if I'm writing about a serious topic" and B1 and B3 stating that they
tell jokes on their blog.
In complete contrast, participants might also seek to appear professional or proficient due
to influences such as their career. SL1, a librarian, noted that, "potentially furries can be
offensive to people in different cultures" and as such designed her avatar to be, "sort of
MOR, least offensive" therefore projecting a professional image to library users. Similarly,
SL3 describes his current avatar as "my professional Joe one…I walk round in this posh
brown suit". To avoid alienating colleagues, B1 states "I never say anything on there that I
wouldn't say in work". There is clearly a reluctance in B1 to express everything what she has
to say in her blog, work is seen to take priority over expression.
Continuing this theme of appearing professional, B3 explained that he studied a particular
community ("it was a professional community") for his PhD research and "I deliberately
48
chose imagery that showed I was a professional person like them". This was done in the
hope that "it would produce a better response". Imagery is used as a tool in blogging self
presentation here.
The above shows that B3 and other participants are prepared to present themselves as
inoffensive, respectable or 'part of the group' for career reasons.
Proficiency can be expressed in terms of removing blog posts that in hindsight "look silly or
like nonsense" (B4), or making your SL workplace/island appear graphically impressive.
B+SL2 has this latter motivation with her SL island, which she uses for her career. She talked
of "trying to keep it up to date in terms of it looking quite fresh and not outmoded" and
demonstrated this by saying "there's a lot of very high quality buildings and plants and all
that kind of stuff that creates the environment".
Aspects of the self that do not comply with expectations are minimised or concealed in
order to comply with this presentation, as demonstrated by B1 above or by quickly
improving a new SL avatar to avoid it looking like an inexperienced user is controlling it. Of
her alt, B+SL1 recalled "She basically came in to be practical" but found that:
quite early on when she came in, as with my other avatars now, I very
quickly brought her up to speed, and not looking like a newbie
All participants responded that they do not engage in gender swapping, race swapping, or
significant departures from their offline selves. SL4 and B3 expressed themselves
emphatically on this point by saying "no never. I would not even think of it as something to
do" and also "no, not that I recall, not even to tempted to either".
The above suggests that participants present themselves as honest or candid, and indeed,
there is evidence to confirm this, as seen from the following comments:

"I just blog about what occurs to me. I hope I appear sincere" (B2).

"I don't really want to have to put on a facade for people or play games with people, I don't
see a need for it" (SL3).

"I think it is important to establish reliability between users and wish to do this…I also tell
people who I am when I talk to them" (SL4).
Not only is there a desire for truth and distaste for 'playing games' here, but SL4 wishes to
actively participate in making SL a more honest place.
49
Closely related to this is the desire to appear to be speaking candidly, expressed through
writing about emotions. Referring to her first blog, B+SL2 said "When I started writing I was
sad or depressed or I had something to say". 'Having something to say' suggests a frank
account, something the participant wishes 'to get off their chest'. Speaking about one of
her blogs, B+SL1 contributed "there's quite a lot of things on depression and also joy, so
there's a lot more about how I'm feeling". Extreme emotions here indicate sincerity, as the
blog thus appears raw and unedited. This confessional style suggests that the reader is
being given access to powerful feelings than have not been altered for style or storytelling,
but rather, are sincere. Such apparent honesty suggests confessional blogs are a
trustworthy information source, and B4 sees them as a resource for the blogger's inner
circle, "people need to expose themselves - to talk so their friends and family and people
who know them can see…what's going on in their life or see what's their feelings" (B4).
This category provides several examples of how SL and blogging participants present
themselves in certain ways. In doing this, it demonstrates the methods used and as such,
answers the research question. However, distinctions between persona adoption and
simply expressions given are not made. Either all examples or expressions given may be
considered as persona adoption, or only the palpable ones. For example, it is clear in the
case of B2 that the use of a pseudonym to convey femininity is an example of persona
adoption, but can the same be said for B1 who simply decorates her blog pink to express
gender? This is unclear, as identifying the exact point when a persona is adopted goes
beyond the scope of this project.
4.3
Relating to research question R1: 'why do users choose to adopt different personae?' This
section identifies a fundamental reason why participants might adopt personae. Persona
adoption here does not include identity masking - this is studied in the 'Anonymity'
category of this section.
SL users volunteered many reasons for persona adoption in comparison with blogging
participants. Attempting to rationalise persona adoption in the Virtual World, SL4 stated:
50
I have seen some users in Second Life who have actually a truly different appearance and
identity in real life. I think they are the people mostly who cannot act in real life as they
want to do because of family pressure or society pressure
Outside influence is important here. These two 'pressures' come from the society SL users
live in, but also within a more intimate circle, the family unit. SL4 does not give examples
taking his point further, but it is possible to speculate that he could have in mind a user
who is too frightened to reveal their sexuality in RL, but is free to do so without pressure in
SL and might benefit from the interactions in the safer environment. Of course, this is not a
case of persona adoption in SL, but conversely the adoption occurs in RL and the 'true self'
is manifested in the virtual environment. This represents an inversion of the intended
process, but is relevant to the research question nevertheless.
Closely related to societal pressure is the need conform, or 'fit in'. This need was found to
exist among SL users in the literature and this has been further proven in interview data.
SL1 recalled trying to design her avatar to closely resemble herself (see next category for
more on this) "But everybody's avatar seems to be more beautiful and younger than they
are". Later in the interview, SL1 attempted to explains a possible reason for this by saying,
"there's just more scope to make yourself look younger and more beautiful than there is to
make yourself look old". B+SL1 would seem to agree, commenting, "it's…more difficult for
example to find skins that are wrinkled and so forth". SL users are discouraged to make
their avatars resemble anything but an idealised image of youth it seems; this is evidenced
by the disproportional selection of SL skins, which does not stretch to more-mature ones.
Therefore, more users adopt youthful-looking personae and in doing so, contribute to an
environment where to look anything but young is to stand out; a vicious circle is created.
Further evidence is provided by SL shoe sizes. B+SL1 gave the following account:
There was a point where my feet were outside my shoes. In Second Life, female
shoes are mostly size zero. Once I realised my feet were outside my shoes, I tried to
edit my shoes so they weren't outside my feet and started to realise that it was quite difficult
to find shoes that are decorative; and as my standards of appearance went up,
as I found the fashion blogs and things and found out what was available, and found
out this would be fun and I was willing to spend some of my own money on this, and
for a while I had this worry about fashion image and how to be thin, and this sort of
thing, and in the end I just gave up and shrunk my feet down to size 0
51
To wear decorative, feminine shoes, the SL user must either reproduce their RL size zero
feet in SL, or, as is more likely, modify their avatar's virtual feet to meet the standards of
fashion. This is a pressure females feel rather than males, and once the avatar's shoe size
has been reduced, it seems logical that the waistline or height would be too, to keep
everything in proportion. For many this would represent a further seemingly-enforced
departure from the RL self.
Further SL comments within this theme include SL3 saying that users making themselves
more attractive in SL than RL is "almost standard practice" and SL4 noting, "my SL name is
not the same as my RL name, I don't think many people's are". These are two instances
where persona adoption is a mandatory requirement for 'fitting in'.
As mentioned, blogging examples were rarer, but B4 did opine that, "things are a little bit
more exaggerated when people talk for their communities". The blogging community, that
is, other users, can therefore influence what or how the blogger writes. However, blogging
participants did not express a need to change themselves for the sake of their audience or
community. Comments on the matter included: "I didn't look for many audiences or readers; I
just wanted to write for myself" from B+SL2, who reject the idea of presenting one's self with the
impressions of others in mind; secondly, B3 said "I had no sense of any actual audience – no-one
ever emailed me to say they read it or anything like that", which shows that B3 felt no pressure to
express himself in a particular way from those who read his blog; and finally, similarly to B+SL2, B1
said "I don't really write to an audience".
Blogging participants do not feel the same pressure to conform as SL users do, perhaps
because avatar appearance is central to fitting in, and avatars are less important in
blogging. The blogging community could be an important area for peer influence, but there
is little evidence to prove this. Instead, SL users are alone are pressured to conform to
wider standards by adopting personae, especially if they are female. Although not found to
be a concern for all participants, 'fitting in' was found to be a strong influencing factor over
behaviour.
Evidence that SL participants are conscious of the need to fit in is present, and this forms a
category that gives a clear reason for adopting personae online, This need would seem to
have further grounding as it reflects confirmative behaviour in RL (the popularity of blue
52
jeans in western countries for instance). As such, the research question has been answered.
There may be other reasons for adopting personae, but this theme is highly prominent in
the interview data gathered.
4.4 Recreating the offline self online
The aims and objectives of this research focus on persona adoption - how, why, and to
what extent - but a key finding from interview data, not considered by the research
questions, is that participants often attempt to re-create their RL selves online.
Asked how her blogging self compares with her offline one, B1 said "I think we're the same,
definitely…I find it very difficult to write not how I speak". B4 added that although on the
blogosphere, "things are a little bit more exaggerated and people talk for their
communities" she said of her blogging self, "I don't think I'm a different person…no. I'm just
me". Additionally, B2 answered "it is me, we're the same". Blogging voice is found to be
true to RL voice here; in SL, recreation occurs more literally. Describing her avatar, SL1
commented "I tried to make to her look as similar to me as possible" other comments in
answer to this question include B+SL2's who said "I tried to as much as I could to make it
similar to myself" and similarly SL4's comment "I would describe my avatar as being
identical to me. I have tried to appear in SL as I am in real life" and finally B+SL1, who said
"There's SY [her primary avatar], who I think of as me". These comments show that there is
significant desire to be the same person in SL and in the life away from the computer.
Widening scope beyond this question, SL2 outlines his view on the matter:
To me, the guy that's on the screen - because the avatar is essentially a different
thing - but the guy that's on the screen is just a thing on the screen that I control;
it's got my personality, it is me essentially
So, rather than there being a separate online self, the personality seen through the avatar is
fully informed by the RL self for SL2. No changes occur due to the transition to the online
environment. SL3 thinks of the two selves as different faces, saying "I don't want to give a
different face to myself" and continues "I want to be me, I want to be honest, I want to be
up-front and I don't want to have a different identity". The disparity between offline and SL
selves evidently troubles SL3, and even irritates her (judging by her tone in the interview).
Coupled with the above evidence, it is clear that a significant number of participants across
53
blogging and SL wish to have an online self which is a true representation of their offline
one, and not take the opportunity presented by the virtual environment to don the mask
and adopt a persona.
Another example of the recreation of the offline self online is the personal information
given by participants to others, the availability of 'first life' data to readers/other SL users
'anchors' the online self to the offline one, stunting persona adoption.
Asked whether they publish personal information such as name and contact details, B1
responded "Yeah, my name's on there, where I live, what I've done before, there's stuff about my
own dissertation on there. It's pretty easy to find out about who I am and where I work". B1 seemed
relaxed about this bridge to her offline life. Answering the same question, B3 said:
I think I was at Loughborough [University] then, so it had a link to my Loughborough
email. I'm pretty sure it [the blog] linked to other research I was doing, and that had
a link to me as well. I think it linked to my CV, which was quite explicitly me
Again, there is a clear bridge to offline self, best illustrated by the CV. Similarly, B4 responded "They
can see email address, my date of birth, my full name, yeah I don't have any problem with that".
Releasing such information invites blog readers to treat the blogging self as one and the
same as the RL self. Even in the case of B+SL2 when some filtering occurs, the pseudonym
used is the participant's nickname, and so is rooted in RL ("no, but for my friends it's
obvious, because I use my nickname, so everyone knows me"). B+SL2's friends are still
invited to see blogger and friend as one and the same.
As a SL equivalent for the above question, participants were asked whether they openly
reveal their RL identity to friends in the virtual world. SL3 replied "Yeah, one or two;
members of staff really. I know them in SL and yes, they know who I am". Professional
colleagues are therefore shared in SL and offline. SL4 said:
I have friends in SL who are mostly my friends in RL as well. That is, I already know
them in RL. So I don't have problem to reveal my real life identity to them
Both friends and colleagues are thus allowed into the SL user's online life. B+SL2 adds to this by
saying "Obviously, my classmates know me from university, so there's no need to tell them who I am
in SL". The continuation from RL is evident here, SL3 and B+SL2 have the same
colleagues/classmates in SL, and SL4's friends in SL and RL are usually the same people. As
54
such, these users would have little reason for presenting themselves as being different in
SL.
This phenomenon works in contrast with the practice of persona adoption, and shows that
there is a desire amongst users to give a true, undistorted picture of themselves online.
They do this by including RL details on a blog or designing an avatar to have a keen likeness
to their RL appearance. But because users do this however, it does not mean that there is
no scope for adoption in another avatar, another blog. B+SL1 for example, has SY, a SL
avatar who she thinks of as herself, but yet DS, her alt, is "more like dressing up dollies" and
both appears and acts differently to SY. Indeed, when B+SL1 writes her SL fashion blog, she
does so through the voice of DS, who has a personality to SY. It can be possible to both be
one's 'real self' and through a different incarnation also experiment with a new self too.
4.5 Dividing the self
Although participants generally reproduced their offline selves online, they would not
always replicate their whole offline identity, but rather, just highlight aspects of their
personality. What is meant by this is that the offline self is divided up into aspects of self,
and only some of these aspects are presented online. This partially explains how users
adopt online personae.
B+SL1 maintains several blogs. Explaining why she and a colleague started one relating to
information literacy (IL), she said "the motive there started out being publicity for our
project, making it better known" this developed subsequently though to involve part of the
participant's personality "it evolved into, I suppose it's an extension of having been a
librarian, of useful stuff that people might want to know".
B+SL1 now uses the blog to collate information on IL. This is her 'librarian side'. In contrast,
her SL blog was established for different reasons:
It started as an outlet for a particular kind of writing which I enjoy doing, which is
making little stories out of in this case what I was doing in SL, which seemed in some
cases bizarre but also fascinating. In a lot of ways it's more personal, because I'm
talking about my Second Life existence, but also my emotions
55
B+SL1 here blogs about emotions within a narrative structure and also the writing is heavily
stylised. As such, she presents an 'adventurous' or 'storytelling' side. Two blogs here,
seemingly the antithesis of each other, are written by the same individual.
SL1 describes her presence in the virtual environment as "participating where I can to keep
abreast of what's happening rather than participating in it from a personal perspective"
SL1 takes care to separate the personal and professional here. Indeed, she later said "it's
personal in the sense that it's personal professional development, but it's not my home
life". What this means is that other SL users see SL1's 'professional side' in interactions, but
never her personal side. Similarly, B1 gave the following account about writing her blog:
I think that you have to think carefully about what you're writing, just in case people
are gonna come back and say 'you really shouldn't have written that on there'. I think
defining my personal self and my professional self is something I've really struggled
with
There is wariness about writing something inappropriate on her blog, the consequences of
which have been considered. So B1 self-censors by separating the personal and
professional, then marginalising the former.
Self-censoring can be rationalised when there is a particular focus to a blog. B3 maintained
a blog about the experience of doing a PhD and said it:
was obviously part of a quite carefully demarcated part of what I was doing at that
time. You could say there's all kinds of things I'm doing as a PhD, all those activities,
a little part of it seemed like it would work as a blog, so that part was on the blog. But
I would have kept a lot of the activities off it because it didn't really fit in, and then
again....I would say I was running at that time….I never put anything about that in
Perhaps this division of self is necessary due to the complexity of the RL self. It is a 'melting
pot' of different contexts which need to be married, but online it is simpler and more
relevant to divide the self into aspects like 'professional' or 'storytelling'. SL3 said the
following about designing her avatar:
I can't possibly put all of me into my avatar – I'd need to be much better at using the
features and even then, the difference between a real person which is such a complex
thing and an on-screen character representing them is really, is really huge
56
In sum, behaviour is relevant to persona adoption and research question R2: 'how do users
adopt different personae?', because although participants are not donning a mask, or, in
Mauss's terms, becoming who they would like to be, they are emphasising some parts of
self and censoring others. The reader of the blog/other SL user is therefore presented with
an edited version of the self whereas in RL they might be given a fuller picture, so what
occurs is a 'partial masking'.
4.6 Anonymity
Participants were asked about anonymity to satisfy the research questions R1: 'why do
users choose to adopt different personae?' and R3: 'can some forms of persona adoption
be considered to be subtler than others?'
Fear is put forward by SL4 as a strong reason for opting for anonymity in SL:
Griefing, verbal abuse or sexual abuse and perceived violence are the most negative
experiences that people have in Second Life. Users know that these sorts of situations
are happening and it might also occur to them. Therefore, I think users are wary and do
not want to reveal their real life identity very much.
This is fear of negative behaviour in interactions. By masking identity, this fear may be
reduced, as the act cannot be carried through to the RL person. An avatar can be deleted,
but if the negative act happens to an avatar associated with a RL person, then the act might
seem more personal and permanent for the user, creating wariness on their part.
Fear of damaging RL reputation is expressed by SL3, who holds a good reputation among
colleagues and in her industry, but remains anonymous in SL. Asked why SL users might
make it impossible to trace their RL identity, SL3 said:
Maybe they just don't like making fools of themselves...I think that's something when you
first start out in there, you're not so familiar with things, you don't know what to do, so
maybe that is an issue that you don't want to be seen not to understand, what it's about,
or how to go about things
57
Furthermore, SL3 describes her own presence in the virtual environment in the following
terms, "I just go on there wondering around aimlessly, bumping into things". This selfdeprecation suggests a low-level of confidence about her ability to interact in SL, as does
the feeling of unfamiliarity and confusion in the account above.
B1 answered the above question in terms of blogging by saying:
I think the main issue would be if you're living in Iran and you've got a really nasty
government who's going to come down on you, so you can't say anything against
them
Political reasons then, are cited as a key reason to mask identity. This means that the
blogger may write what they wish without RL consequences, and the two selves can be
kept completely separate.
By masking identity, confidence was found to increase in SL. Comparing his RL and online
selves, SL4 said, "I do feel a bit more confident in online environments to express myself,
since I have a bit of a shy personality in real life". B+SL2 added:
I have been to a conference but I never talked during it. In the Second Life
conference though, because no-one could see me, I was more confident and
answered the presenter's questions several times. It was a great experience, I was
more self-confident
Anonymity means SL participants can overcome shyness and more than just feel selfassured, can act upon this by behaving differently.
There was however, a reported lack of faith in anonymity on the internet:

"I'm not sure I believe in anonymity on the net, not entirely, anyway" (B2)

"people think they're anonymous, that you can't really know who they are, whereas I would
say there are certainly people who do know exactly who you are all the time, people like
Google or your ISP, or so forth, they can link information up about you" (B3)
Certain advantages of anonymity have been expressed by participants here - fear of griefing
and losing reputation, political reasons and added confidence were all found to be reasons
why users might mask identity (and thus adopt personae) but this is finite, as doubts
regarding how much one can anonymise were also raised. Perhaps anonymising because of
fear can be seen as a subtler form of persona adoption, as users are pressured into it by
58
external influences. Neverthess, these advantages still mean identity masking occurs and
provides material for the research question.
4.7 Minor persona adoption through embellishment
From interview data, several 'embellishments of self' were found to occur in SL and
blogging. This category relates to several research questions such as how users adopt
personae (R2) and whether persona adoption occurs at different levels, from minor to
major (R3).
Blogging participants admitted to exaggerating posts for the purposes of storytelling:

"I think it's pretty normal, because if it was otherwise you would never think of putting
something simple that happened in your life in your blog...something simple may happen to
me but it could give me an idea, so I talk about it and find out what other people think
about this matter, so I try to exaggerate a little bit so people become more interested and
motivated to comment or to express their own ideas. I think that happens a lot generally
and it happens for me too" (B4)

"I might make events sound slightly neater or certainly I'd be selective in the way I tell a
story…I might also talk about other things and make a joke or a story out of problems,
rather than giving a holistic representation of what had gone on" (B+SL1)
This represents a minor adoption, rather than creating a completely new identity online.
However, the blogging environment provides an opportunity for the writer to exaggerate
events, meaning that the quality of information suffers.
The SL environment also presents opportunities for embellishment. Asked for an example
of a minor persona adoption in SL, SL3 volunteered:
Making yourself look like you were when you were 18, rather than when you are 50
or something. Going 'back in time', it's one place you can do it, it's really easily done. Present
yourself as an 18 year old rather than a 50 year old
This idea of 'going back in time' could be a way for a SL user who worries about giving an
accurate portrayal online to adopt a persona without compromising their morals, or
alternatively, the user may consider that they portraying an accurate self-representation,
59
and that age is simply irrelevant online. It also relates to those SL users discussed in the
'Fitting in' category above, who make their avatar appear different to the RL self to gain
acceptance.
Self-presentation can also be the subject of embellishment in SL. SL3 recalled:
In one of my jazz clubs I spoke to this Mexican lady…and she was saying, 'oh I
really hate it, because a lot of people you talk to, in real life they're handicapped
or crippled, and they don't have a real life'. And I've never looked at it like that.
And I spoke to my neighbour, and she's got muscle dystrophy or something like
that, so she's wheelchair-bound and that's why she's in SL a lot. That's when it
suddenly struck me – the Mexican lady was probably right, I never thought about
it like that. So I think it's people from that sort of demographic who have disability
or whatever are more keen on engaging with Second Life in a sense as well
SL2 highlights that users might have conditions that single them out for discrimination in
the offline world, but do not disclose this to enjoy 'a level playing field' in SL. Conversely,
users may attract such reactions out of interest or curiosity and adopt a wheelchair-bound
persona (this was mentioned by SL1).
Embellishment was identified as a minor form of persona adoption by participants and
although it was found to occur in both media, it takes many more manifestations in SL than
blogging. SL then, has been found to be an environment for many minor forms of adoption.
This category alone though, cannot fully inform a scale or hierarchy of adoption.
4.8 Information evaluation techniques are not always needed
This category informs the research question 'how can we evaluate the information that is
presented to us and from that, make informed decisions?'
Answering the question, 'how do you evaluate the trustworthyness of identity-related
information in blogs/SL?' problems regarding the quality of information in blogging and SL
were identified by participants:

"I think it's always one of the problems I've had with Second Life, not knowing who I was
talking to. All of the information literacy training, all of that sort of evaluation of
60
information as to whether it's sort of quality is based on who's written it. And how can you
judge the quality of what's been said if you don't know who's written it?" (SL2)

"I certainly wouldn't act on it as a reliable source of information. It might be interesting as
part of the zeitgeist, to see what's out there, what people are thinking, but I certainly
wouldn't rely on it, no" (B2)
To overcome such suspicions about the quality of information in SL, certain techniques
participants use were recalled:

"I might befriend them and sort of find out more about them, or I might look to see which
groups they're involved with, so if they're in the sort of librarian groups, or sort of
information literacy groups that I belong to again, if it's something matching my needs, my
requirements" (SL1)

When I'm at a meeting and someone's there who I don't know, I'll click on their profile. Part
of IL in SL is making judgements based on groups they belong to, whether they put a blurb
bit on their profile, they might say something about their first life, they might have some
pictures of places that they're interested in, and they might link to their blog" (B+SL1)
Group affiliations and SL profiles then, can help a user evaluate information produced by
other users in interaction by investigating the information source.
Some SL participants recalled encountering chatbots in SL, but that it was apparent that
they were not human users. SL3 noted that chatbots have not significantly developed since
the 1990s, and as such it would be very unlikely that a SL user would have to actively
evaluate identity-related information from a chatbot presenting itself as human, as the
attempt at deception would be obvious.
Judging information by the place it comes from in SL or the blogosphere was also found to
be important to participants:

B3 comments that two kinds of blogs that he reads that are reliable are:
- blogs by people he knows, such as Lorcan Dempsey, because the blogging voice matches
the RL voice
- sports blogs produced by institutions such as the BBC, which is a trustworthy source

"If there's a specific island set up where you know who's set up that island...perhaps like
Eduserve Island and things like that, then perhaps yeah. You can trust those sources". (SL3)

"Yes there are different blogs and websites that people mostly trust and we have found
their news most reliable over time. We check them. Or some famous websites like Fox News,
CNN, they don't usually lie...people know them and the blogs on them as being honest and
good" (B4)
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
"In Second Life there are many educational environments and places. So definitely they are
reliable, but towns and other places, no".
"In blogging, usually if they say their identity, their achievements, then I say ok – they are
more reliable than someone completely unknown...you can also look at comments – how
many people agree with this person or not" (B+SL2)
Participants can be seen to trust information if is produced either in a reputable place in
the SL environment, or by a well-known media organisation such as CNN or the BBC.
However, one thing that participants would stress is that we don't always need to trust
what we see; it can be useful just to consume the information without questioning it, as B2
does above with reading to ascertain "the zeitgeist".

"I don't trust it. There aren't any situations where I would need to trust it, let me put it that
way". (SL3)

"To be honest, I don't care that much. If it's about what people are saying and feeling I just
read to just get some idea of what they're saying…in my friends' blogs I don't really care
what they're talking about. Mostly it's not really a serious issue, just what's happening to
them or their opinions. I don't have to bother myself whether they 'oh, she's right or not
right', it's a POV…it's democracy!" (B4)

"Sometimes you read a blog just for fun and it doesn't matter if you trust it, you read it just
for fun. Sometimes you are doing research. That time you should be more careful about
them" (B+SL2)
It seems there are two kinds of information consumption in terms of blogs and SL - leisure
and research. Many participants encounter information for leisure, and it should be
recognised that in this situation, trust is not an issue, only for research do we need to
evaluate. In consuming information for leisure, users can be content if the information is
unreliable and may be satisfied even in the information is fictional - it still provides 'fun'
reading matter, gives a flavour of online conversation or can provide 'the zeitgeist'. An ideal
set of results for this research question might be envisaged as a list of evaluation
techniques, or an assessment of blogging and SL alongside other information sources such
as newspapers and academic journals. The latter has partially been met by the SL advice
provided by SL1 and B+SL1 in particular, but the fact that the 'information need' can be
twofold here is a significant point to consider when evaluating, reminding users that not all
information in these two media need be evaluated.
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Chapter 5
5 Discussion of results: literature incorporation
In this chapter, the literature is added to the research findings. Evidence from participant
interviews is therefore interwoven with scholarly research to test research findings.
In the previous chapter, categories were formed and found to inform the research
questions to varying extents. In addition, one category - recreating the offline self online widens the scope of the original research aims and objectives. Categories identified in the
last chapter were as follows:







Expressions given
Recreating the offline self online
Dividing the self
Anonymity
Minor persona adoption through embellishment
Information evaluation techniques are not always needed
These categories will now be incorporated with the literature with the aim of refining the
data and improving the research findings.
This category is already based on Goffman's (1990) conception of the expressions we give
to others in self-presentation. It does not however, go as far as to identify when expression
are 'given off' as the phenomenon of 'image slippage' (Robbins, 2006) is not relevant to this
research.
In the 'Early virtual worlds' section of the literature review, Shaw (1997) and Baym (1998)
were cited as authors who studied users' self expression pre-SL and blogging. They found
the self to be expressed in various ways given the tools available. In this project's research
findings, expression through the textual user name or 'handle' was found to still occur participant B2 writes under the pseudonym 'Velvet Paws', allowing others to see her as
63
being feminine. With SL, 3D avatar design has now taken expression through the nickname
further, to the design of the 3D self in the virtual environment - participants were found to
actively communicate to others that they are 'fun', 'proficient' or have other qualities by
customising their SL representation.
The literature review finds that avatars are powerful agents in self presentation, and the
research findings recognise this in terms of SL avatars, but there is no evidence of the same
phenomenon in blogging.
Personal space is discussed in the literature review as a way to express the self. Blog layout
can illustrate identity according to Hodkinson and Lincoln (2008) and appropriate SL space
decoration can present the user as 'knowledgeable' and 'competent' (Malaby, 2009 : 21).
The research findings provide evidence of the both former (B1's 'pink blogs expresses her
femininity) and the latter (B+SL1 chooses to reside in a SL treehouse because it exhibits
humour and leftfield taste and B+SL2 exhibits her SL alien spaceship because it is artistic
and it demonstrates her love of aesthetics). Here, the research provides direct examples
which are supported by the literature.
The literature finds that SL users conform to assumed social standards by representing
themselves as younger and thinner than in their offline lives and in most cases white by the
expressions they give through their avatar appearance. Accordingly, the research findings
feature evidence of expressions given leading to users actively attempting to conform, but
not in exactly the same way. The need to express oneself as being professional or belonging
to a group is the manifestation of conformity, meaning SL1 makes her avatar "sort of MOR,
least offensive" and B3 chose imagery in his blog that would place him within a group of
professionals. On a lesser scale, SL3 wears a suit in SL now Virtual World activities are part
of his job and B1, conforming to the rules of netiquette, self-censors in her blog so as not to
give negative expressions. So, to grossly-summarise, 'white and slender in SL' from the
literature translates to 'professional looking and inoffensive' in the research findings. As
mentioned, the way conformity appears in both senses is not identical, but it is definitely
present in both, and this strengthens the answer this category gives to research question
R2: 'how do users adopt different personae?'
64
5.2 Fitting in' - a key motivation for persona adoption
Research findings suggest that due to societal or family pressures, SL users might not be
able to act freely in RL, as their 'true self', but that SL provides them with the platform to
accurately represent themselves in interaction. Interpretation of the literature would
suggest that this social emancipation that occurs online is due to a shedding of RL
inhibitions. The online disinhibition effect (Suler, 2005) is applicable here, and this process
is highly similar to the one (Bargh et al., 2002) describes, whereby the true or inner-self is
presented online, but not in face-to-face conversation.
The other focus in this category is on conforming. Research findings indicate that bloggers
feel or are aware of less pressure to conform than SL users. This is also true of the
literature, which shows little evidence of blogger feeling they should meet others'
expectations. Indeed, Huffaker and Calvert (2005) find that teenage bloggers are
exceptionally candid in their blogs, seemingly showing little concern for the need to change
the way they present themselves to please others.
Conforming has a dedicated sub-category in the literature review, due to the many
examples of such behaviour in SL. No research findings indicate the race swapping Welles
(2007) talks about in SL, but the move towards emulating western concepts of beauty that
Jones (2006) and Ducheneaut et al. (2009) identify does seem to be echoed in this research.
the reasons for this echoing are peer-pressure and the lack of older 'skins', meaning users
who do not wish to spend substantial time on their avatar appearance must accept default,
standardised representations.
Applying Goffman (1990), it might be asked, "are the SL research participants 'cynical
performers'?" This depends on whether it is felt that those interviewed are being sincere
when interacting in SL, and from their apparent honesty it would seem so. Goffman's point
here would seem only to be relevant when SL users conform in SL to the point of deception.
Waggoner (2009) noted in the literature review that users can see their online selves as
65
having equal validity with their RL selves; the two selves then, are not different, but the
same entity in different contexts. Research findings agree to an extent by indicating that - if
not seeing the two as identical - participants wish to keep them as close together as
possible, and not adopt new personae.
SL users who wish to be themselves and reject role-playing are observed by Boellstorff
(2008) and Katz (2006) writes:
In the metaverse, it's possible to try on all sorts of identities, but in the end, don't
you bring yourself across the digital borders? I did
Here are two examples from the SL literature that reinforce the research findings. Little is
present from the blogging literature to reciprocate though, other than that bloggers (more
than gamers or dating website users) are likely to portray themselves as being close to their
offline selves when given the opportunity to use a blogging avatar (Vasalou and Joinson,
2009). It can understood from the above that the recreation of the offline self is more of an
issue in SL, where users have more obvious options to deviate from the offline self and
adopt personae in terms of the appearance of the 3D avatar. In blogging, it is perhaps
expected that persona adoption does not occur unless a detachment from the offline self is
obvious, such as in the case of pseudononymous blogging.
Goffman (1990) can perhaps not be applied to users who truly recreate their RL selves, as
they use no costume to perform, even when given the opportunity by the online stage.
The research finds that users do not display all aspects of their offline self online, but
instead only a few facets of self, these are thought of as particular sides of an individual's
personality ('librarian side', 'professional side', etc.). The literature recognises this, and
perhaps goes further by identifying a dual process of repression and supplementation (Lee
et al., 2008) whereby bloggers present certain aspects of their personality, but choose to
not reveal others. Bailenson and Beall (2006) see this being applicable to avatar-based
environments such as SL and term the phenomenon transformed social interaction.
66
The research findings do also provide reasons for this behaviour, understanding that a
blogger for instance, may not wish to write about his whole life when the blog is about one
specific topic - to do so would be to include irrelevant material. The literature does provide
reasons for channelling different aspects of the RL self into second blogs (McCullagh, 2008)
and 'alts', but these are very different: Amir-Ebrahimi (2004) finds there is a need to
disseminate information in places away from the primary blog to avoid affecting the
presentation of the primary blog or RL self, and Boellstorff (2008) notes that alts have a
variety of uses such as for buying property.
Literature and research findings agree that the RL self can be divided into certain facets
online, and when this happens, the holistic picture of self is not presented. However, there
seems to be many reasons explaining why this might happen, with no common ground
between literature and findings. Perhaps further research into this one specific subject
might uncover the many reasons and draw better comparisons with the literature, but the
wider scope of this project means the picture does not seem to be complete. However,
research question R2: 'how do users adopt online personae?' has been informed at the
basic level, through the verification in both elements that the division of RL self does occur.
5.5 Anonymity
Fear of negative behaviour such as griefing is cited by the research as a reason users might
choose to be anonymous in online interaction. Correspondingly, the literature provides
examples of how non-anonymous users might particularly suffer from griefing. Blogger
Jessica Valenti (2007) became the subject of severely negative personal comments from
other bloggers after appearing with Bill Clinton and Boellstorff (2008) finds griefing can take
the form of sexual or verbal abuse in SL. Had Valenti been an anonymous blogger, the
comments could not possibly have directed personally at her, and the SL griefing outlined
by Boellstorff is also less personal in nature when the abuser knows little or nothing about
the RL person they are abusing. From the literature it can be seen that anonymity provides
a 'buffer' from griefing which in turn minimises the fear that the research finds is present in
users.
Research findings also show that anonymity means users need not fear their RL reputation
or image being adversely affected. Again, in the case of Valenti, anonymity might have
67
meant avoiding unfortunate social outcomes. Describing the difficult situation griefing has
caused, she gives the following account:
it's not easy to build a career as a feminist writer when you have people
coming up to you in pubs asking if you're the "Clinton boob girl" or if one of
the first items that comes up in a Google search of your name is "boobgate"
(Valenti, 2007)
This blogger then, through no fault of her own, suffers from notoriety on the internet. The
literature here provides a striking example why other bloggers might be fear disclosing their
RL identity on their blog.
Also mentioned in both literature and research results is the threat bloggers face of
sanction from governments. The literature finds that non-anonymous bloggers who have
not self-censored content can face serious punishment by the state (Alavi, 2005; Whitaker,
2010). The research finds that through anonymity, this can be avoided.
In sum, the literature provides examples illustrating why users might choose to
communicate anonymously. This is not a direct recognition of what anonymity can provide
however, and examples are limited, not spanning both blogging and SL. As a result, it only
partially supports the research findings that anonymity is the result of fear of negative
behaviour, damage to reputation and government punishment.
Storytelling can occur in a blog, whereby continuous narrative "of self" informs the blogging
persona (Davies and Merchant, 2007). In the research findings, there is also evidence that
his happens. Both blogging and SL participants provided evidence that editing or mild
exaggeration of events takes place for the purposes or creating a narrative in online
interaction. This can be said to inform the self as interaction is central to the presentation
of self.
Research findings also identify 'going back in time' as a minor form of persona adoption in
SL. This is where the SL user designs their avatar to resemble their RL self as it once
appeared, many years ago. No literature explicitly supports this finding, but Duchenaut et
al. (2009) argue that SL users commonly present younger versions of their RL selves. The
68
research would seem to expand on this, by finding that the persona adoption is minor when
the user considers that they are still essentially presenting their true self, and not actively
taking on the role of someone younger.
In the film Avatar (Cameron, 2009) the protagonist is a paraplegic soldier who through the
use of an avatar is able to once again physically compete and interact with others. The
research results provide a SL equivalent to this process whereby users who are mobilityrestricted in RL are able to move around in the virtual environment freely and without
restriction. The option to represent one's self via a wheelchair using avatar is present, but
there it has been recognised that there is no obligation to do this, and the user can avoid
any potential prejudice they might encounter by not presenting the mobility restriction.
Although there is a difference in the RL and SL appearance, it can be questioned whether
any persona adoption actually happens at all and if it does, surely it is very minor. It might
well be asked why the SL user cannot present her/himself as the majority of other avatars
do.
Very slight embellishments of the presented self then, mean that persona adoption might
be thought of in minor terms as well as more tangible ones, such as gender or raceswapping. These embellishments are found in research and literature to include a
storytelling, presenting a former likeness of the RL self and choosing not to present a
wheelchair with the SL avatar.
5.7 Information evaluation techniques are not always needed
As participants inferred that they did always not always feel the need to evaluate
information, the research findings suggest that information consumption in blogging and SL
can be for leisure, in which case little or no evaluation is necessary, or for research where it
is. Regarding information consumption for leisure, Kafai et al. (2010) suggest that avatarbased environments can be used simply for fun and experimenting with identity by younger
users. This can suggest evaluation may not be needed, similar to how research participants
described how they liked to merely browse environments for pleasure, hardly thinking
about how to judge the information; however, this is only true to the point that avatarbased environments are safe for younger users.
69
Regarding chatbot software, the literature suggests that formal evaluation techniques
should not be required to distinguish human from non-human (Geddes, 2010; Turkle,
1995). This would support the research finding that chatbots are still unsophisticated and
are unlikely to mislead users in SL.
In both literature and research findings though, it has been acknowledged that information
evaluation skills or techniques are required. Vaast (2007) finds that in forums 'new selves'
with little or no grounding in RL can be created online and impersonation is recorded in SL
by Boellstorff (2008) and again this has happened in forums (Donath, 1999). Nowak and
Rauh (2008) suggest that SL users judge others as more credible sources of information
when the person they encounter has an avatar which is distinctly in the image of a human
and clearly-gendered. SL participants informed the research findings by explaining that
certain techniques can be applied so the user can trust the information consumed.
Additionally, the literature shows that language analysis can be an effective tool in verifying
blogger identity by utilising clues left (or 'expressions given' (Goffman, 1990)) in the text.
Again, the literature does not directly support the research findings, but can do so to an
extent with some interpretation. Areas such as chatbots are clearer, whereas literature
support is sparse when arguing that information evaluation is not always that important,
even though the majority of participants made this claim.
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Chapter 6
6 Comparison of SL and blogging
In terms of the expressions given (Goffman, 1990) by participants, blogging appears to be a
more effective platform for expressing honesty or candidness through the expression of
feelings. Blogging participants enjoy the opportunity to express their feelings in a nontimed, one-way form of communication. It would be difficult to express this in SL, as typed
conversations often happen extremely quickly, with little period for reflection. Also,
conversing at such a deep, intimate level might alienate other users expecting a more
superficial conversation.
Both platforms offer ways to express femininity, humour and creativity, but participants
choose to do so in different ways. For example there was no evidence of a blogging user
expressing femininity through a blogging avatar, they decorate their blog instead, and no SL
users express humour by telling jokes 'in-world' (in the SL environment) instead they
decorate their avatar, as SL3 did by wearing a wolf suit.
6.2
Social pressure seems to exist in SL but not in blogging. SL users are encouraged to use
younger skins for their avatar and in the case of B+SL1, have changed their avatar's body
shape to meet the sizes stipulated by SL fashion designers. In terms of blogging however,
the audience or other bloggers can be seen to have some influence over users (B3 attempt
to impress his readers with imagery, B4 suggested bloggers sometimes write with their
communities in mind) but blogging participants have not indicated that they been 'pushed'
into meeting others expectations.
From this, it is possible to conclude that the SL environment actively encourages persona
adoption as users change their appearance to meet social expectations, but that persona
adoption in blogging is less likely to be a result of such influence.
In this area, both blogging and SL seem to be similar. Participants from both sets attempt to
71
recreate the RL self online. For bloggers this is generally done by publishing information
about the user's RL identity and providing contact details, links to Flickr photostreams,
personal websites, etc. B2 is the exception as she blogs under a pseudonym, but by
choosing the name 'Velvet Paws' wishes to retain her RL femininity rather than becoming
completely anonymous. In most cases SL users are happy to publish personal details in their
profile, or tell others personal details in conversation, and because of these parallels, there
are strong similarities between the two.
There are more examples of aspects of the self being channelled into different contexts in
terms of blogging.
One participant who demonstrates this category particularly well is B+SL1. Her 'librarian'
and 'storytelling' sides have their own dedicated blogs, whereas her main SL avatar is a
more holistic self-representation. One of B+SL1's 'alts' represents her fashion interests, but
this second avatar also has a dedicated fashion blog associated with it. When this
participant divides different aspects of her personality into multiple channels, blogging is
always involved in the process.
Other blogging participants have second blogs where they detail other interests, but no
other SL participants have alternative avatars. It is more common when dividing the self to
use a second blog then, than a second avatar.
6.5 Anonymity
Fear was found to be the major motivation for anonymity, and this is true of both SL and
blogging. As such, it would seem that there are little significant differences between the
two media here.
The reason for this similarity is that the examples given by participants are universal. For
instance, SL4 cites 'griefing' as a reason SL users might be fearful of revealing their identity.
Negative behaviour can occur in blogs too - this is called 'flaming' and is evidenced by the
negative experience Valenti (2007) experienced.
This phenomenon occurs across both SL and blogs, but is manifested in different ways.
Blogs can be subject to a narrative treatment or storytelling, meaning accounts presented
72
by the blogger as being factual are not completely accurate. In SL however, selfpresentation through the avatar is again subject to adoption; in this context, the RL
appearance is changed either for reasons that might not be considered to be significant by
some at all.
6.7 Conclusion
In SL, the appearance the avatar is the centre of almost all persona adoption found in this
research. The Virtual World is an environment where aesthetics is highly important in
interaction. Persona adoption in blogging however, occurs in different ways, and perhaps
because there is less social pressure, there is also less persona adoption.
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Chapter 7
7 Conclusion
7.1 Overview
This conclusion begins by summarising the research findings and comparing them with the
original aims and objectives. An additional finding from the research is also summarised
here, and it is considered how this informs both the research questions and the project as a
whole.
The key findings of the research are then outlined. Recommendations for further research
are also made. Finally, the research limitations of are considered.
7.2 Research findings and research questions comparison:
Here each research question from the aims and objectives are compared against research
findings.
R1: 'Why do users choose to adopt different personae?'
Research findings show that there are reasons why users choose to adopt personae - to 'fit
in' and because of the advantages of anonymity.
SL participants reported there is a need to conform for reasons such as looking young or
beautiful being the social norm in SL and the pressures created by SL fashion designers (the
need for size 0 feet, the scarceness of mature skins). It was also seen that the process can
be reversed, with the 'true self' being the persona in SL when the user's RL is subject to
family/societal pressure.
Anonymity was found to bring several advantages such as the user feeling an increase in
confidence and being able to avoid damaging his or her reputation. Fear of negative
74
behaviour or government punishment might also drive users to mask identity. However,
there is a recorded lack of faith in the effectiveness of anonymising content or identity.
R2: 'How do they do this?'
No participants were found to swap either gender or race to adopt personae. Instead,
various expressions were given (Goffman, 1990) such as being particularly feminine,
creative, fun, professional, proficient, candid or belonging to a particular group. While it
was not established that these were all examples of personae being adopted, it was found
that certain qualities could be suppressed while these qualities were emphasised.
By 'dividing the self' into certain aspects, participants were found to be editing the self and
again emphasising some personality traits while suppressing others, meaning a partial
masking of identity occurs.
Embellishment of self through storytelling or minor changes in SL self presentation to
achieve a positive reception also was found to be used.
R3: 'Can some forms of persona adoption be considered to be subtler than others?
Research findings consider that masking identity when motivated by fear could be
considered a minor form of adoption. Embellishment of self (as discussed above) is also
viewed as a subtle form of persona adoption, especially when the user might not even
consider that they are representing themselves differently or when there is no obvious
obligation to present one's self as one appears in RL.
R4: 'Can we evaluate the information that is presented to us in blogs and Second Life, and
from that, make informed decisions?' (about whether it is a good source, whether we
can trust it, etc.)
The research findings indicate that it is indeed possible to do this in SL by adopting certain
techniques such as considering other user's profiles or groups they belong to. Additionally,
the place where information is encountered is considered is important in both blogs and SL
75
- trustworthy examples include an educational island in SL, or a blog maintained by a
trustworthy media organisation such as CNN or the BBC.
However, although information can be evaluated to an extent, participants stress that it
does not always need to be. Consuming information for leisure is a common exercise in
blogs and SL, and when this occurs, the reliability of information is not always relevant or
needed.
Additional finding: Re-creating the offline self online
Contrary to the whole process of persona adoption, participants were keen to re-create
their offline self online. This was achieved by creating a blogging voice which is true to the
offline one, and publishing personal details about the offline self online, or designing the
avatar to resemble the offline self in SL in disclosing offline identity in SL. All this means that
the online self is 'anchored' to the offline one, and that disparity between the two selves is
minimised.
Reasons for this included wishing to be totally honest and direct with others, and the belief
that identity does not really change online, it is still fully informed by the offline self, so
there is no difference between them.
7.3 Outline of key findings
The key findings from the research are as follows:

SL participants are encouraged adopt personae to fit in, as the environment
features a disproportionate amount of young, attractive avatars. Bloggers do not
experience such pressure however, even from their audiences.

Users choose anonymity due to of fear of negative behaviour from others and the
added confidence it brings.

No participants swap gender, race, or make any major departures from RL self, but
rather use a minor form of adoption by 'embellishing' the self - using storytelling in
blogging or altering appearance in SL.
76

The self may be divided when online with different channels (specific blogs or
avatars) inhabiting their own spaces.

Some forms of adoption are so minor that they might not be considered to be any
significant change at all to the user.

When consuming information for leisure in SL and blogs, it may not matter whether
the information is reliable or not. However, information is also consumed for
research purposes, and when this is the case evaluation techniques are available.

Generally, participants do not wish to adopt personae, and attempt to re-create the
offline self online. However, re-creating the offline self and embellishment are not
mutually exclusive - users may employ the former due to principles, but then the
latter to due peer pressure.
The main point this research raises is that although users may intend to recreate their
offline self online, there is evidence to suggest that they might attempt to give particular
expressions of self and adopt personae in a very minor way by embellishing the self. This
may particularly occur in environments such as SL, where there is evident peer-pressure.
Therefore, in interactions it should be understood that genuine-seeming users may present
themselves accurately, but only to a point.
7.4 Research limitations
As mentioned in the Methodology section, the research sample was cut from 12 to 10
participants. This did not reduce the amount of data generated, as B+SL participants
contributed data on both blogging and SL, but the reduction in participant numbers did
mean that there were less differing views and opinions on certain subjects as only 10
different people contributed data.
Sampling was a difficult process, as identifying participants with both knowledge and
sufficient experience of blogging or SL and the willingness to participate took a significant
amount of time. As a result, the range of participants may not be considered to be greatly
diverse. Due to convenience, most of the participants that were recruited have associations
with The University of Sheffield. Additionally, uneducated participants were not
represented in this study and most participants recruited were from the same country.
77
It can perhaps be said that the research sample is too 'honest' or 'open'; for example, only
two of the ten participants blog or use SL without revealing their RL identity. Finding
individuals who exercise anonymity or pseudonymity is by nature a difficult process, and
one reliant on researcher contacts. Furthermore, asking these individuals to talk openly
about their anonymous identities might also contradict their original intentions.
By incorporating the finding 'Recreating the offline self online' this research acknowledges
that the research scope was initially too narrow, and should have considered the
relationship between the offline and online self, as this of relevance to persona adoption,
particularly this phenomenon in its minor forms. However, the scope has been expanded to
accommodate this additional finding.
7.5 Recommendations for further research
This research has produced several results which could be investigated further with specific
focus. For instance, having established that some forms of persona adoption are subtler
than others, research could be conducted purely into the minor adoptions - the
'embellishments of self' in online environments. Due to the many expressions given off in SL
avatar design, such as study could focus purely on SL, or expand to cover a number of
similar virtual worlds.
Furthermore, the effects of persona adoption could focus on participants from one specific
country or a particular group of people. With a study of users from one particular country,
the identity behaviour observed could be compared with that country's cultural identity,
whereas particular groups could include those that already play the kinds of roles that
other users in SL and blogging aspire to.
78
Chapter 8
8 Reflective report
In this report, I the researcher, attempt to reflect on my own personal performance during
the dissertation process and identify areas where I can learn and improve in the future.
8.1 Early stages
Having created a provisional timetable as part of my Final Dissertation Proposal, I had
hoped to follow it and thus work to a schedule. However, I have realised that such a
timetable cannot be created in minutes, but should instead consider many factors.
Firstly, my initial feelings about the dissertation were of intimidation, and this adversely
affected my early motivation – I would write sections for my literature review and identify
participants, but struggled to place this work into the wider context of the project, as its
scale is much larger than any project I had worked on before (I did not write a dissertation
as part of my undergraduate degree). I did not appreciate how my initial work would help,
as the 'pit' seemed bottomless and even though I was working reasonably well, I still
believed it was not enough.
Other factors also affected timetabling, such as balancing relationships with friends and
family and coursework. I felt quite bitter initially to be missing all the fun others were
having during the summer, and found it difficult to commit fully until the final month of the
project. What my timetable didn't do was allow time for relaxing and taking days off, had I
allocated more space to this I think I would have managed to control my feelings and stress
levels better during the project.
As I envisage working on larger projects with longer durations during my professional
career, I can appreciate that the above experiences have been useful. I will no doubt
struggle with the scale of my next large project, but in doing the initial groundwork will not
expect to understand exactly how my early work will contribute to the final result. In
timetabling, I will not expect to be able to work emotionlessly, but will rather give myself
79
more breaks with which to relax and maintain personal relationships. As a result I can
anticipate that I will be able to manage my feelings better and will approach my work with
more confidence. As such, my emotional energy will not be wasted on worrying, etc.
8.2 Middle stages
As the project developed, I found that my feelings about it changed, and my confidence
increased.
Having developed my literature review and conducted initial interviews, my knowledge of
the subject matter increased and I was reassured by being able to discuss it with
participants and my supervisor. There was no 'eureka' moment where I suddenly
understood, and realised I could complete the dissertation; it instead cumulatively
increased by a small amount every day, without my noticing.
Meetings with my supervisor were also helpful, and motivated me to organise myself –
produce work by certain deadlines, etc. The support and encouragement also helped, as I
realise that the dissertation process can be quite a lonely one.
However, despite this confidence and additional support, I still would 'rush' work, and fail
to think about its presentation. Having seen a question-by-question analysis of results in an
earlier dissertation, I decided that this was the clearest way to present data, and spent a
week writing findings in this format (Appendix 1). When I showed my work to my
supervisor however, it was communicated that this was a poor way to analyse my findings,
and I had to start the discussion phase again. I consider that this waste of work is the worst
error I made during the dissertation process. As such, I have not had the time I have liked to
analyse my data, but feel that I have adapted to a minor crisis well, to produce the work of
earlier chapters.
Looking to the future, I have learned at first hand the importance of a support network, and
will identify the available assistance in my future workplaces, as in projects such as this one,
they will be needed. Planning with haste, I have learned, is certainly dangerous, and I will
certainly consult project managers before making such decisions again.
80
8.3 Finalisation
During the final stages of the project, there is a sense of pride at having negotiated a large
project and having overcome the difficulties faced during the process. However, there is
also slight regret that more time was not given to analysing results, and it always feels like
additional sources could be added to the literature review to improve it.
My motivation levels dropped in the final stages, and coursemates have talked about the
need to stay focussed during the 'final straight'. I agree that this is important, and hope the
quality of work in my conclusion, introduction and abstract matches that of my earlier
work. To ensure this, I have asked others for constructive criticism as has been done
elsewhere.
I can appreciate the learning process of writing this dissertation, and consider the research I
have conducted to have informed my skills in terms of planning, information retrieval and
interviewing. Given the chance to start again, I would place a greater emphasis on keeping
scheduling, and within this schedule, building the necessary flexibility to not adversely
affect my lifestyle in terms of stress levels, exhaustion, etc.
Word count: 22,258
81
Chapter 9
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10 Appendix: List of interview questions
10.1 Questions for both blogging and SL participants
Question 1: How long have you been blogging/using SL?
Question 2: Why do you blog/use SL?
Question 3: Could you tell me if anything in particular in your background led you to
blog/use SL?
Question 4:
Could you describe your blog to me?
Could you describe your SL avatar to me?
-For bloggers
-For SL users
Question 5:
Does your blog feature any links to other sites
or 'gadgets' etc. and if so what do they say about you?
Do you own property or inhabit a particular space in SL,
such as a room or island? Describe it please.
-For bloggers
Question 6:
Do you publish your personal information on your blog?
(name, age, contact details, etc.)
Do you tell your SL friends your real life identity and do
they often tell you theirs?
-For bloggers
Question 7:
How does your blogging/SL self compare with
your real life self?
How does your blogging self compare with
your SL self?
SL
-For SL users
-For SL users
-for bloggers and SL users
-for participants who blog and use
Question 8:
Have you ever used blogging/SL to engage in gender swapping, race swapping, or any other
significant departure from your real life self? Please provide details if so.
Follow-up Question (if the answer is simply "no"):
If not, have you encountered others doing this?
Question 9:
Do you have any thoughts on why bloggers might use a pseudonym/why SL users make it
impossible to trace their real life identity?
91
Question 10: How do you evaluate the trustworthyness of identity-related information in
blogs/SL?
Question 11:
Imagining all the persona adoption that occurs on blogs /SL as a scale, what would you
place at the extreme end?
Question 12:
What would you place at the minor end of the scale?
10.2 Questions for participants who use both blogs and SL only
Question 1: How does your blogging self compare with your SL self?
Question 2: Over time, have your online selves become more or less like your real life self?
10.3 Questions for SL participants only
Question 1: Do you do things (social activities) in SL that you do not do in real life?
Question 2: Have you ever thought you were talking to a 'bot' in Second Life?
Question 3: Over time, has your Second Life self become more or less like your real life self?
10.4 Questions for blogging participants only
Question 1: Does what you blog about affect how you present yourself online?
92

WHAT WOULD GOFFMAN THINK ABOUT FURRIES?

Transcription

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