Social Narratives: Avatars and Media Engagement

The avatar has changed the notion of media engagement. This may be clearly illustrated by looking at an art exhibit (specifically; paintings). We can read about an art exhibit online. The level of engagement, for me personally, is determined by the font size and how much can be absorbed by reading off the computer screen. If we go one step further, we can print out the information about the exhibit. Again, speaking personally, this is a somewhat more engaging way of looking at the exhibit. With the copy in hand, I can high-light, underline, read or re read any portion of the article at my discretion. The article now has now taken on the property of portability, allowing my engagement to take place at home, at work and or on any mode of transportation while I am in transit. By the same token, I can also, in addition to or instead of the text, print out copies of the art in the exhibit. Yet another level of engagement would allow me to go to a web site to look at high resolution versions of the artwork. Still other levels of engagement allow me to discuss the artwork in a chat room (without seeing the work at the time of the discussion) or to read comments about the work, posted at a site where the work may be present but the authors of the comments are not present. The avatar has changed the level of engagement by not only allowing me to view the artwork online, but to also engage with any other avatars (people) that may be present at the site at the same time. This level of engagement closely approximates being at the exhibit itself. Some may argue that this is better than being at the exhibit because, according to certain social norms, one does not usually engage in a conversation with strangers at a venue such as an art gallery. These same norms, as applied to cyberspace, not only allow the engagement of conversations with strangers, but also encourage it. This, perhaps, can be seen as one of the advantages of anonymity in cyberspace.

The avatar can and should become a catalyst for documentary dissemination.

~ by epkfilms on June 25, 2008.