“Blacks Deserve Bodies Too!” Design and Discussion about Diversity and Race in a Tween Online World

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Kafai Yasmin B. Cook Melissa S. Fields Deborah A.
2007 DiGRA '07 - Proceedings of the 2007 DiGRA International Conference: Situated Play

In this paper, we investigate racial diversity in avatar design and public discussions about race within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net with more than 1.5 million registered players ages 8-16. One unique feature of Whyville is the players’ ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the racial diversity of available resources for avatar construction and online postings about the role of race in avatar design and social interactions in the community. With the growing interest in player-generated content for online worlds such as Teen Second Life, our discussion will address the role of avatars in teen/tween identity development and self-representation, and the role of virtual entrepreneurs and community activists in increasing the diversity of avatar parts available.

 

Your Second Selves: Resources, Agency, and Constraints in Avatar Designs and Identity Play in a Tween Virtual World

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Kafai Yasmin B. Fields Deborah A. Cook Melissa S.
2007 DiGRA '07 - Proceedings of the 2007 DiGRA International Conference: Situated Play

Avatars in online games and worlds are seen as players’ key representations in interactions with others. It is surprising then that this aspect of game play has not received much attention in research, in particular what concerns playergenerated avatars. In this paper, we investigate the avatar design and identity play within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net with more than 1.5 million registered players ages 8-16. One unique feature of Whyville is the player’s ability to customize one’s avatar with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the expressive resources available for avatar construction, individual tween players’ choices and rationales in creating their avatars, and online postings about avatar design in the community at large. With the growing interest in playergenerated content for online worlds such as Second Life, our discussion will address the role of avatars in identity play and self-representation as well as the social issues that arise within the game world.