Avatars and Self Esteem

Over at Technology on a Shoestring, he recently blogged about an NPR podcast about Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab. To save you the time of listening to the entire podcast, I'll quote the part that I think is relevant:

"One of the more interesting findings they observed was that when a person picks a better looking avatar from a set of possible avatars, the student will take on some of the attributes of the avatar. For example, subjects were asked to fill out an online dating form in which they picked people they thought they could reasonably date. The subjects who had selected a good looking avatar filled out an online dating form where they projected better possible matches. I should mention that the dating service form was filled out an hour later and that the avatar was not used or associated with the dating system."

Though these students are a lot older than the ones whose "self identity" is in the beginning stages of development, a la Erikson, it still indicates a positive influence from using an online avatar. As many reservations as I have expressed about this phenomenon, the evidence for it seems to be gently edging towards significant.

Virtual Playground

I never got around to publishing my research paper on Social Networking and Identity Development for the Marshall McLuhan class I took in the Fall. This 14 page paper outlines the research I synthesized from various cutting-edge researchers on the topic of how socializing online affects children's development, specifically their sense of self, or identity.
You can read it here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg9rtthh_5g6zxftfp

Forming Identity

If you've read any of my previous blogposts or forum posts lately, you know that I've been on a mad mission to explore whether there are negative effects for children who are developing their sense of identity at the same time as manufacturing multiple identities online. Today, I found the definitive source...written four years ago, would you believe? In a book of journal articles titled Children in the Digital Age edited by Calvert, Jordan and Cocking, I found an essay by Sandra L. Calvert. In the essay, she explores "Identity Construction on the Internet." I'm excited because she basically asks the exact same questions I have been asking myself and provides some interesting insights. Just as with most things in life, the answer is not simple. It all depends on what developmental psychologist you follow!

1. Erikson would likely say that as children are forming their "single unitary identity," they are merely using the Internet as a place in which to experiment, to try on various identities before settling on one.

2. Jung believed in a single identity (personae) as well, but he integrated these "archetypal images" into his theory--the mother, child, healer, king, witch, healer, etc. The Internet, again, provides a sort of playground on which children can take on the mantle of various archetypes before integrating one or many of them.

3. Social (Symbolic) Interactionists like Mead would say that none of us have a single identity, but that we shuffle various identities as we shift into different environments and social situations. Thus, the Internet is simply an extension of that exploration and construction of those parts of self.

Hallelujah! So the answer seems fairly clear, that the nefarious nature I thought might be intrinsic is not actually there. EXCEPT (and there's always an except isn't there?) that they are exploring and trying on all these identities in a public sphere, one that is timeless and placeless. In 5 or 10 years, a copy of that Web page will still be around on "The Way Back Machine". It's like a high school yearbook with all our worst school photos (identities) ONLINE for all to see for the rest of time.

Added to that embarrassment is the potential danger involved in exploring archetypes or identities that may bring personal safety into question. The real issue is how MUCH information children are putting out there about themselves, not what kind, it seems. Finally, there is the possibility that a child may be confronted with images and behavior he or she is not developmentally ready to process. But, I guess that's a different topic altogether.

Social Networking, Avatars and Child Development

A few more peices fell into place today. I finally had some time to sit down and begin the awesome task of finding the budding research about child development, specifically identity issues, and online avatars/social networking. It's time-consuming work because there is no definitive text. Marshall McLuhan started thinking about these issues in the 1970s, and of course Piaget and Erikson both performed copious research on identity in general. However, I have not come across anything substantial. Today, I learned about Dr. Marina Bers from an article in the Boston Globe. She has created a social networking space for children suffering from serious medical conditions. That's not really what's interesting, though. She's interesting because she has done research on identity and computer technology. I emailed her. I've got my fingers crossed. I also read a blog post by Larry Johnson about Avatars and identity. One of the folks who posted a response was a technology teacher in Florida. She's supposedly conducting research AS WE SPEAK on the very issue. I emailed her too.

Maybe they can help me figure out if I need to be more than lightly concerned about the students at my school having two (sometimes three or four) such disparate identities. Maybe they just learn to juggle identities like they juggle tasks. Maybe their brain really is able to separate out what is real and what is online. Maybe.