Paper short abstract:

In this contribution, I analyze the new ways of perceiving human interactions and relationships online, more specifically through multiplayer games and the concept of avatar. I will show how gamers interact, build social relations, express emotions and (re)identify themselves in virtual worlds.

Paper long abstract:

The study of virtual worlds offers new ethnographic methods and new ways of perceiving human relationships and interactions. By analyzing the field of multiplayer video games, where individuals create large communities online, we can observe the creativity of gamers in using or reappropriating game mechanics and assets to share emotions and meaningful behaviors with their fellows. Through the use or modification of tools provided by video game developers, individuals from all around the world manage to express their feelings, their affection, or even parts of their culture through computerized interactions online. It can take many shapes, such as organizing, within the virtual world, social rituals and events like marriages or even teambuilding sessions that usually take place in the physical world. Thanks to these “virtual” moments, gamers aim to strengthen emotional and community ties. In this talk, I intend to analyze these points through the key element that allows people to “be” online and to involve themselves in virtual activities: the avatar. I will introduce how gamers can interact, build relationships, and identify themselves, with the option of customizing their virtual character(s) beyond ethnic and gender limits, the possibility of using a whole list of emotes and chat systems, and a way of immersing themselves in familiar yet so different environments from our physical world. I will also demonstrate how the avatar allows individuals to discover new ways of "existing" and of building meaningful relationships, and how it can create a form of virtual attachment, affecting life and commitment online.