One way or another, I've thought a lot about avatar appearance in Second Life. One of my first experiences was as a student doing a course about teaching in Second Life through Boise State University (wonderful course; I highly recommend it!) I went along as Rupert Uriza and Rupie at that stage was only marginally modified from the standard avatar that you are equipped with when you enter Second Life.
I noticed that this class of educators wore all sorts of things; but what was especially interesting was that everyone had altered their appearance from the standard. The other interesting thing was that everyone changed their clothes between lessons. I didn't understand this because of course in Second Life you don't get sweathy and smelly. I felt some considerable pressure to change my appearance and to go shopping for new clothes and I too started changing clothes regularly.
The other thing I noticed was that people were uncomfortable with me having a male avatar when I am a woman. It became especially disturbing for people when voice came to Second Life so that there was a woman's voice coming from a male body. I would hear conversations like:
'Oh, where's Rupert?'
'She's over there by the amphitheatre.'
People were clearly confused.
The lecturer and some of my female classmates wore ballgowns but the males didn't seem to wear suits. The general attire was jeans and t-shirts. This seemed appropriate as Second Life feels like an informal environment.
Two or three of my classmates had furry avatars but even then, they were 'normalised' by wearing jeans and t-shirts. Somehow this seemed more appropriate to me than the lecturer wearing a ballgown. Somewhere in my head it felt like she'd been partying all night and had turned up to class straight from going out. I know that is a ridiculous thing to think, and maybe now I'm more familiar with Second Life I wouldn't think that, but I was a newb back then and maybe that is still how a newb would feel.
I also decided to get another avatar when I started thinking about taking students into Second Life. I created Helen Frak which looks more like me (but thinner and more glamorous), so that my students would know it was me they were dealing with. And I dressed Helen Frak in clothes that the real life Helen would wear. I also decided to do this so that people wouldn't be confronted by having a female voice coming out of a male body. So for me that whole idea of making a professional avatar is a little redundant because I made an avatar that dresses and looks like me.
If I taught a class entirely in Second Life (instead of how I do with real life and SL) I wouldn't feel the same pressure to have an avi that looked like me. I think I still would have a female avatar because of the voice issue (I know you can get devices that change your voice but I couldn't be bothered). I think I still would look reasonably professional though I would stop short of wearing a suit. One of the resons for this is that maybe as part of the course I would need to appear more formal at some time (a presentation of prizes or something) and I would like to make that occasion more special by 'dressing up'.
Interestingly, I recently organised a SL event to mirror a real life event. Audio from speakers in real life was streamed into avatars in SL. When I modified some avatars 'to be' these people in SL, without thinking, I put them in suits. I thought they should look professional (and they did wear suits in real life).
So, I'm not sure I would favour creating a really professional looking avatar except for a specific occasion (say for a building launch or something where that avi needed to stand out from the crowd). For teaching, I think I would use Helen Frak looking like me. I want to retain my authority in SL by carrying my real life image over to there. I want to be able to visually signal to my students, what is appropriate. Ok now we're going to have fun and go dancing - that's when I'll wear a ballgown.
I do think there are certain guidelines that should be followed:
- I don't think avis should be showing too much flesh
- I don't think avis should have provocative walks/gestures/animations
- I think that it makes sense that if you have real life classes with a Second Life component then be consistent with level of formality in dress between both (unless you are going to do something more informal in SL)
- I don't think furries are a problem (though I have heard there is discrimination against furry avatars)
- Think about genderbending. Will it confuse people too much?
I would change my avatar under other circumstances with my students, for example, if we were role playing then I would be someone else more appropriate to the role.
I wouldn't be comfortable teaching in Second Life being too beautiful and girlie and showing too much flesh. I ask my tutors not to wear provocative clothing or tattoos and so on. They've responded by having work and play avatars.
Also, closely linked to the idea of a professional image is the choice of name for your avatar. Some names I've seen are very risque and also what groups are you a member of. It's easy for a student to check your profile, even if you don't have the offending group name hovering over your head a student can see a list of your groups and do you really want a student to know you're a member of 'Shemale Sex Garden'?
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