Fragmentation of the Virtual Persona

1ST YEAR ON THE LIST

Users tend to represent very different facets of themselves across various online platforms.

KEY INSIGHT

In the absence of standardized universal avatars, users of digital platforms are free to—and in many cases required to— create multiple online versions of themselves, each tailored to the virtual context it inhabits. These digital personas may range from representations of various facets of a user’s identity to entirely imagined characters.

EXAMPLES

A popular meme format features four pictures of the same celebrity displayed in a grid, each representing a different online platform: a wholesome, not particularly cool photo for Facebook; a clean-cut, buttoned-up headshot for LinkedIn; a youthfully edgy look for TikTok; and a flirty, smoldering portrait for Tinder. Despite the humorous intent, this meme reveals an important truth about online identities—we create different versions of ourselves for different corners of the internet. As more digital platforms adapt to the metaverse, and profile photos give way to more complex, dynamic avatars, this fragmentation of online identities will likely become more pronounced, as each of a user’s avatars lives a distinct virtual life, developing unique traits and behaviors in its given platform. This fragmentation can even take place in the opposite direction, where a single avatar is designed and influenced by multiple users, creating an even more complex relationship between humans and their virtual counterparts.

DISRUPTIVE IMPACT

Avatars are more than just digital standins, and the way they are designed and controlled can have a psychological effect on their creator. In the longer term, the creation of multiple richly detailed online personas for individual users is liable to lead to a more pronounced fragmentation of their real-life identities.

EMERGING PLAYERS

• Social networks • Avatar generators • Game engines

Avatars are not just ornaments—they alter the identity of the people who use them.

— Jeremy Bailenson, author, “Infinite Reality”