Is Your Avatar You?

Not that Avatar!
Image Source: avatar.wikia.com

A few days ago, I came across an interesting article via Ciaran Laval’s Twitter.

Entitled ‘Avatar IRL,’ it’s about a transgender woman who credits SL with helping her become more confident.

The article is very well-done, and I encourage you to read it.

It mentions how people can identify strongly with their avatars and how that can affect their behavior in RL.

I started to wonder – does that hold true for me?

I would say that I identify strongly with my avatar – after all, I made her.

I have spent the last several years making Kat into what I want.

Is Kat the ideal for everyone?

No, of course not.

But Kat is an expression of ME, not them.

For instance, I like being tall in SL, because I am short in RL. 😀

Has being Kat in SL affected my behavior in RL?

Yes, it has.

I have gone from being someone who was unhappy and just going through the motions to someone who is determined and consciously joyful.

Ciaran also has a blog post about the article and related items, which discusses a study about how people who are transgender or who have disabilities use virtual worlds.

How has your use of SL affected you?

Are there difficulties in your RL that virtual worlds like SL help to allieviate/change?

Have there been any negative consequences in your RL from time spent in SL?