Visual representation
Why is a visual representation important in an online community?
When you speak to a group of people whom you have never met before, you can convey your personality through visual cues such as your appearance, facial expressions, eye movements, body language and even the way in which you pronounce your words. This isn’t possible in a typical online community so people use images to help convey information instantly.
To help make the online community feel more personal, visual identities give the audience instant information about the composer or the information the composer wishes to convey. The actual name of the avatar can also provide information about the composer. Note that the avatar may be realistic or non-realistic in appearance. It may also convey part of an identity that is not true to the owner.