DigitalThe media,group and avatars more specifically, have made it increasingly easy for users to interact anonymously. In digital worlds our avatars may differ from our physical world selves on a variety of characteristics ranging from name and physical appearance to demographics and attitudes. We areis studying how digital media users who anonymize themselves via their avatars may be perceived differently from media users who use avatars that resemble their physical world selves. We are asking questions such as, is ostracism more aversive when it comes from an anonymous or identified digital media user? And, are media users who choose to be anonymous treated differently from media users who are merely assigned anonymous avatars?
