O meu eu digital: avatarização na construção tecnocultural de imaginários

Abstract

This research discusses the process of creating avatars in contemporary technoculture. Through this reflection on what avatars are, we seek to understand their implementation and use as personas, with the main goal of comprehending how avatars evolve in different experiences within technoculture. More specifically, we aim to understand the context of contemporary technoculture, question the convergence of avatars in various digital representations, grasp the context of avatars in digital publications, and comprehend the culture of convergence and the imaginary worlds in which avatars are situated. We depart from an epistemological assumption of imaginary worlds as addressed by Flusser and the convergent worlds of Jenkins. However, the methodological journey is supplemented with the archaeology of imaginaries by Kluttenberg and Benjaminian constellations, establishing a methodology with a constructively critical approach concerning the production of avatars and their relationship with the involved communities. This methodology enables a representative consideration of avatars and the objectives behind their placement or positioning, established both by users and in conjunction with the accompanying companies. It was possible to conclude through the three collections developed that users have the need to represent themselves in the virtual realm. This representation can be both identical to the current self and also an inner self of each user.