Ugly Duckling by Day, Super Model by Night: The Influence of Body Image on the Use of Virtual Worlds

Abstract

Abstract

French mental health first aid guidelines for eating disorders: an exploration of user characteristics and usefulness among college students

“…Regarding website traffic, the guidelines were downloaded over a thousand times in the space of a few months, suggesting that college students might be particularly interested in learning more about ED and highlighting a particular need for ED‐related mental health literacy among this population. Regarding user characteristics, participants were mostly females, which is consistent with the fact that female college students have been found to be most likely to seek health information . Main reasons for downloading the guidelines were knowledge/curiosity suggesting that special attention should be paid to increasing ED knowledge among French female students.…”

“…Regarding user characteristics, participants were mostly females, which is consistent with the fact that female college students have been found to be most likely to seek health information. 19 Main reasons for downloading the guidelines were knowledge/curiosity suggesting that special attention should be paid to increasing ED knowledge among French female students. Furthermore, most participants reported having previously used the Internet to gather information regarding ED confirming that the Internet is a critical medium for health information among youth.…”

The Presentation of Avatars in Second Life: Self and Interaction in Social Virtual Spaces

“…Social science research in Second Life is similarly promising. For example, scholars in a wide variety of disciplines have explored the construction of virtual space (McIntosh 2008), the reproduction of heteronormativity (Brookey and Cannon 2009), civic engagement (Gordon and Koo 2008), group norms (Stromer‐Galley and Martey 2009), the public sphere (Ikegami and Hut 2008), identity (Messinger et al 2008), gender (Dumitrica and Gaden 2009), stigmatization (Boonstrom 2008), the relations between online and offline behaviors (Yee, Bailenson, and Duchenaut 2009), the consumerist logic (Vicdan and Ulusoy 2008), and changing body image (Becerra and Stutts 2008). Roush, Nie, and Wheeler (2009) have explored visual methodologies here, and Boellstorff (2008) has created focus groups as well as conducted extensive ethnography in Second Life.…”

Who is Portrayed in Second Life: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? The Extent of Congruence Between Real Life and Virtual Identity

“…And third, virtual worlds and other three dimensional environments are able to induce a particularly strong sensation of presence, even when compared with two dimensional spaces (Pan et al, 2006). Virtual worlds allow their users to present themselves in any way they wish, and create different identities to suit a variety of purposes (Bloomfield, 2009;Becerra & Stutts, 2008). Generally speaking, the virtual identity either chosen to represent, or used to redefine a real-life personality, tends to embellish what the given individual already possesses, aspires to have, or desires to be (Marcus et al, 2006).…”