Talk:Bingjie Qiu

It is clear that Bingjie had spent a lot of time reflecting on her appearance and why she chose to change certain features of herself, such as her hair and eyes. Because of this, it is no surprise that she was able to map these features onto an avatar representation of herself, and it was interesting to hear how she felt certain features could render her avatar more or less attractive. While it is simplistic to say that feeling more attractive can make a person perhaps feel better about themself, this reflection went further in describing the connections between change in physical appearance and a corresponding change in personality. This reflection is insightful and shows how the final thought about avatars being manifestations of our desires comes directly from her experiences with this assignment. The Times Magazine article that Bingjie used is very relevant, not only to the topic of avatars, but also to her personal experiences with manipulating appearances, both on- and off-line. Although there was room for expansion on this outside source, anyone who would take the time to go through and read the article would see that it says a lot about how online avatar appearances can affect offline identity, which is the point that Bingjie ends on. Danielle Lott