Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Avatars: What They Are and Why They Matter

Avatars: What They Are and Why They Matter

Ratan, Rabindra

Hardcover

Series: Digital Media and Society

Technology & EngineeringGeneral Sociology

PREORDER - Expected ship date January 19, 2027

ISBN10: 1509571000
ISBN13: 9781509571000
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: Jan 19 2027
Pages: 234
Language: English

Avatars are everywhere - from virtual environments and social media filters to AI companions and deepfakes.

In Avatars, media psychologist Rabindra Ratan draws from two decades of pioneering research to explain how avatars shape the way we think, feel, and connect in an increasingly mediated world. Through accessible theory and compelling examples, Ratan defines what avatars are across digital and physical forms, explores how people relate to them as extensions and partners of the self, and reveals how avatars influence human behavior - often in ways we do not consciously recognize. Moving from the psychology of identification and customization to the power of avatars for persuasion and influence, this book charts the past, present, and emerging future of human-avatar relationships.

Combining rigorous analysis with personal insight from a career at the forefront of avatar research, this book offers a clear and engaging framework for understanding how our virtual selves are transforming not just media, but what it means to be human. Avatars is essential reading for students and researchers in Media, Communication, STS, Game Studies, Applied Psychology, Sociology, Cultural Studies, and Human-Computer Interaction.

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