Adolescent Female Users' Avatar Creation in Social Virtual Worlds: Opportunities and Challenges

Overview

Journal Behav Sci (Basel)

Date 2024 Jul 27

PMID 39062362

Authors

Chaeeun Ko

Seongcheol Kim

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Many adolescent females are active online, finding creative ways to express themselves through evolving social media technologies. Social virtual worlds (SVWs), distinguished by extensive avatar customization features, provide them with unique opportunities to craft virtual identities and explore diverse facets of self-presentation. This study investigates adolescent females' construction of avatars in Zepeto, a South Korea-based global SVW platform. Employing social representation theory (SRT) as a theoretical framework, this study conducted in-depth interviews with adolescent female Zepeto users to uncover their perceptions of and motivations behind avatar creation in SVWs, as well as to explore how the interplay of virtual and real worlds presents them with various opportunities and challenges. While the prospects of SVWs remain uncertain, examining how these young users interpret and experience SVWs contributes to identifying potential strategies to enhance the sustainability of these platforms.

Citing Articles

Affording Social Experience for Adolescents Using Immersive Virtual Reality: A Moderated Mediation Analysis.

Li G, Luo H, Yin X, Zhang Y, Li Z Children (Basel). 2024; 11(11).

PMID: 39594937 PMC: 11593269. DOI: 10.3390/children11111362.

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