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media—that we are putting a face on things in effect. I am suggesting that both sides of
a media equation can be sustained: first, we believe what we see even as we know what
we see is effectively a façade; second, we negotiation the difficulties of perception (the
deception as it may be) by gauging the located use of media. We determine our sense
of agency in pervasive media engagement in terms of “situated action,” as I have dis-
cussed in chapter 1.
The media equation thesis—that we do not perceive a difference between the real
and the simulated—has particular value for my estimation of networked subjectivity. I
am suggesting that there is no second, virtual life—a cyberspace outside of our actual
space of engagement. Rather, there are only variations of avatars as one moves through
different territories. Actual things happen across a continuum of space, place, and tem-
porality. And, the insights and actions we take in these sites may change our minds or
even our worldviews.
In my assessment of accelerated mediation on a societal scale, I see that virtual fig-
ures and territories possess increasing capacity to affect our experience of the world.
We feel this shift in how we value and engage mediation most deeply not in the out-
er reaches of media design but in the humble media of daily life: the things we bump
into in our homes and daily travails. It is the quotidian experience of media, not the
avant garde or exceptionally expensive, that speaks to what we actually do with media
and best forecasts the future of mediated worlds. It is within this construct of quotidian
media engagement that we must attend to issues of simulation and perception to better
understand how it is we are addressing each other via mediation. Avatars are effective
in conveying a human expression even if we cannot be sure who that human is.
Avatar Identity
Avatars provoke strong human responses because they send strong human signals.
Taller avatars gain greater social power in their relations. Female avatars are feted
and flattered or, conversely, harassed—all in greater degree than male avatars. Avatars
that represent ethnicities other than white—black, Asian, Latino, and so on—often are
treated by strangers in a stereotypically racist manner. 25 Gender-ambiguous avatars are
treated with suspicion. Openly gay avatars get gay bashed. These social phenomena
carry over from the real world into the virtual because we take our worldviews with us
when we go online. If we take avatars at face value, the question becomes: To whom
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