Young people build their identity by interacting in virtual worlds
Self and avatars
The self is exposed to continuous remodeling associated with self-representation ion entertainment contexts. For example, in a social network such as Facebook, teenagers are clearly exposed to others when building their profile, even if it is a private setting. Although it is a space defined as personal, they choose a specific network because their friends are involved in it, and from that moment on it becomes public. Taking an audience into account, whether implicitly or explicitly, as is the case when writing for the Internet, turns into public what used to be private a few years ago.
We contextualize the concept of avatar, the bridge to virtual reality built, and lived in a simulated world. From her point of view, there is a continuous exchange between real and virtual spaces associated with different modes of representation that are sometimes reflected on this avatar and which are sustained by a public network across multiple combinations. The avatar, however, is not presented in isolation, but in the context of certain stories from which meaning is constructed.
Ciberdrama and virtual reality
Exploring avatars is relevant from this perspective when we explore narratives in cyberspace. For example, it allows us to interpret the participants’ activities when playing The Sims 3 and expressing their opinions by using multimodal discourses, both about the game itself and the figured world involved in those activities. A kind of social virtual reality which is of interest when trying to understand the relationship between virtual life and multiple worlds (public or private) linked to identity.
As players participate in digital games contexts, they become authors not only of text but of themselves, constructing new selves through social interaction. From this perspective, The Sims starts to change the concept of video games. People do not try to beat the rest of the players, but to overcome the challenges involved in the game; what’s more, all gamers can move in the same direction. Progress during the game is related to building social worlds, the game allows a social life and the participants in this study were aware of it, as they made clear on the blog. They projected, as discussed below, concerns and certain social stereotypes that undoubtedly contributed to the formation of their identities