Reinventing Ourselves: Contemporary Concepts of Identity in Virtual Worlds, 2011 Springer Series in Immersive Environments Series

The proposed book explores the theme of identity, specifically as applied to its role and development in virtual worlds. Following the introduction, it is divided into four sections: identities, avatars and the relationship between them; factors that support the development of identity in virtual worlds; managing multiple identities across different environments and creating an online identity for a physical world purpose.

Identity: A Primer.-The Self and Second Life, A Case Study Exploring the Emergence of Virtual Selves.-Liminal Phases of Avatar Identity Formation in Virtual World Communities.-Encountering Oneself and The Other: A Case Study of Identity Formation in Second Life.-Virtual Fashion Play as Embodied Identity Re/assembling: Second Life.-Fashion Bloggers and Their Avatar Body Images.-Embodying Self in Virtual Worlds.-Is That Your Boyfriend? An Experiential and Theoretical Approach to Understanding Gender Bending in Virtual Worlds.-Constructing Disability in Online Worlds; Conceptualising Disability in Online Research.-As Long as They Don’t Know Where I Live.-Multiple Personality Order.-Comparing Avatar and Video Representations.-What is my Avatar? – Who is my Avatar? The Avatar as a Device to Achieve a Goal: Perceptions and Implications.- Situated Learning in Virtual Worlds and Identity Reformation.-Safe Harbours for Identity Exposition and Exploration.

This is the first book dedicated to the subject of virtual world identity The book is structured by topic, making a logical read or enabling strategic cherry-picking Chapters reflect a range of research methodologies and approaches