1/27/2024 0 Comments Bear writer avatarsEven when the virtual identity itself is completely digitally fabricated, the viewers are all humans of flesh and bone. Sometimes the streamers or managers even ban the viewer from chatting due to breaking this rule. The fanbase calls all the information regarding the human behind the avatar “red pill”-information and is discouraged to bring this up during the streaming service. They act according to their chosen traits, even when these are very different from their own physical traits. For example in Hololive Production, which is a platform where people can debut their own virtual characters, the avatars are sometimes not even humans, with very detailed background stories and relations. One interesting factor is that even though people realize that there is a different reality behind the virtual being they love, people choose to distance the real human from the virtual façade. A Japanese VTuber company named Anycolor has revealed their sales revenue that increased from 7,630,000,000¥ (approximately 55,385,900 euro) in 2021 to 130,600,000,000¥ (approximately 948,020,787 euro) in 2022. Over the past few years, the virtual YouTuber (VTuber) industry has grown explosively. These identities are an independent creation that is very different from our physical bodies, which is formed by multiple unchangeable factors like the accumulation of experiences or cultural upbringing. As you can see, the metaverse promotes and encourages this idea of new disposable and wearable identities as part of culture. This is reflected on Zepeto’s homepage, where they state: “By making another online identity we aim to create the world you only dreamed of”. But in the metaverse, you can easily be a completely different being with a new age, race, personality and even species through avatars as easy and quick as changing a shirt. If the user were to change their age, race, or other physical factors from the “original”, then it is considered “catfishing” and frowned upon. On common social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, the online representations of the user are an extension of the user as an edited version of themselves. One important difference the current metaverse holds from the traditional social media is that it offers digital, independent identities. Its form can vary from more socialization-centered platforms like VRChat and Zepeto to games like Roblox and Minecraft. The metaverse still has various definitions but fundamentally, it is a virtual reality where people can enter and form relationships through avatars.
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