What's in an avatar?

By now, you've gotten to know to my Second Life counterpart, Whymog Troglodite.

Whymog is my gateway to Second Life, my arbiter between the virtual world and the real one. He's got weird facial hair and still can't match a good pair of pants to a shirt — just like me, now that I think about it — but he's trying.

An avatar's value isn't immediately obvious. It requires commitment and insight to create one that reflects exactly what a user wants to convey in a virtual world. With that in mind, it's obvious that I haven't put in the time yet to make Whymog the perfect avatar for me. (You can blame that on this little thesis I'm writing in conjunction with this blog.)

Many videogames offer similar avatar creation systems to Second Life's, but with varying degrees of customization. Characters can be created simply for the sake of humor, such as my guitar player in the music videogame Rock Band, who looks just like Tobias Fünke from cult-classic sitcom Arrested Development.

It's fair to say that Whymog doesn't look at all like me. That's fine; avatars don't need to resemble their users. But I think that if I take the time to change the way he looks a bit and give him a better wardrobe, my enjoyment and sense of immersion in Second Life might increase as well.

You can think of a blank avatar like a new house. It's stable and it's put together, but it doesn't feel like home. But after a few trips to the hardware store and a few coats of paint, you take a step back and marvel at the transformation you've created.

It might sound a little weird, but designing my avatar to represent me goes hand-in-hand with feeling at home in Second Life.