Editing Avatar (computing) (section)

===Non-gaming online worlds===
Avatars in non-gaming [[online world]]s are used as two- or three-[[dimension]]al human or [[Fantastique|fantastic]] [[representations]] of a person's inworld self. Such representations are a tool which facilitates the exploration of the virtual universe, or acts as a focal point in conversations with other users, and can be customized by the user. Usually, the purpose and appeal of such universes is to provide a large enhancement to common online conversation capabilities, and to allow the user to peacefully develop a portion of a non-gaming universe without being forced to strive towards a pre-defined goal.<ref>Damer, Bruce. ''Avatars: Exploring and Building Virtual Worlds on the Internet''. Peachpit Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-201-68840-9}}</ref>

[[File:Second Life 11th Birthday Live Drax Files Radio Hour.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Avatars socialising in the 2003 virtual world ''[[Second Life]]'']]
The earliest avatars of this form were text-based descriptions employed by players within [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]]s. These often allowed players to express an identity disparate from their public one within an interactive environment. For instance, [[LambdaMOO]] allowed a choice of 11 different [[gender identity|genders]], which could be changed at the user's will.<ref name=lareview>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Claire L. |title=Quest of the Avatars |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quest-of-the-avatars/ |website=LA Review of Books |date=16 September 2019 |access-date=5 November 2021}}</ref> The visually-based game [[Habitat (video game)|''Habitat'']] also used the term to refer to players within the game world. A later example is Linden Lab's ''[[Second Life]]'', which has the player use a custom avatar to interact in a virtual 3D world; after peaking in 2007, its user count declined due to the encroachment of more traditional platforms such as [[Facebook]].  More recently, the concept has been combined with [[virtual reality]]; [[VRChat]] allows the user to interact with other avatars in custom environments, and [[Mark Zuckerberg]]'s [[Meta Platforms]] has promoted it as part of his vision of a [[metaverse]].<ref name=metaverse>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Abram |title=What Is The Metaverse—And Why Does Mark Zuckerberg Care So Much About It? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/11/03/zuckerberg-facebook-metaverse-meta-virtual-reality-oculus/?sh=5cd5cac66b69 |website=Forbes |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=3 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sung |first1=Morgan |title=What it's like to dance at a VR strip club |url=https://mashable.com/article/virtual-reality-strip-clubs-vrchat |website=Mashable |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=8 October 2021}}</ref>

Many modern virtual worlds provide users with advanced tools to customize their representations, allowing them to change shapes, hair, skins and also genre. Moreover, there is a secondary industry devoted to the creations of products and items for the avatars. Some companies have also launched social networks<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Sterling, Bruce|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|date=September 28, 2007|title=Get a First Life|url=http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2007/09/get-a-first-lif.html/}}</ref> and other websites for avatars such as [[Koinup]], Myrl, and [[Avatars United]].

Lisa Nakamura has suggested that customizable avatars in non-gaming worlds tend to be biased towards lighter skin colors and against darker skin colors, especially in those of the male gender.<ref>Nakamura, Lisa. ''Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet''. Routledge, 2002. {{ISBN|0-415-93836-8}}</ref> In [[Second Life]] avatars are created by residents and take any form, and range from lifelike [[human]]s to robots, [[animal]]s, [[plant]]s and [[legendary creature]]s. [[Customization of Avatars (Computing)|Avatar customization]] is one of the most important entertainment aspects in non gaming virtual worlds, such as ''[[Second Life]]'', [[IMVU]], and [[Active Worlds]].<ref>Meadows, Mark Stephen (2008). ''I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life'', New Riders, {{ISBN|0-321-53339-9}}</ref> Some evidence suggests that avatars that are more anthropomorphic are perceived to be less credible and likeable than images that are less anthropomorphic.<ref group=j>{{cite journal|last=Nowak|first=Kristine L.|title=The Influence of Anthropomorphism and Agency on Social Judgment in Virtual Environments|journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication|year=2004|volume=9|issue=2|page=n.p|url=http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol9/issue2/nowak.html|doi=10.1111/j.1083-6101.2004.tb00284.x|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Social scientists at [[Stanford]]'s Virtual Human Interaction Lab<ref>[http://vhil.stanford.edu VHIL: Virtual Human Interaction Lab - Stanford University<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> examine the implications, possibilities, and [[transformed social interaction]] that occur when people interact via avatars.