The term avatar, derived from the Sanskrit for 'incarnation,' has come to refer to a user's online representation of herself or himself.1 In this context, the term was originally used for a character in the 1985 computer game Ultima IV, before being popularised by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 cyberpunk classic Snow Crash.2 The term, can mean any online representation of a user, including a simple screen name, the purely text- based constructs of early Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), a two-dimensional icon used on internet forums, a pre-set visual character used in computer games (such as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider or Fiona Belli in Haunting Ground), or a personalised three-dimensional visual representation used in social virtual worlds.

Thus, the exaggerated appearance of avatars, which often take the form of highly stereotyped characters, transmits immediate visual signals that may form the basis for future interactions. Similarly, the adoption of strongly rule-based forms of behaviour serves to ease anxieties about predictability in the absence of the full range of offline signals.

s. What is clear is that, as users become more closely bonded with their avatars and invest more of themselves in those creations, they will become more concerned with protecting that investment, and the expressions of self-embodied in those creations. Also, as social worlds emerge into more commercial environments, the protection of the information and creativity embodied in those avatars will become more important

According to Ho and McLeod (2008) reduced observable social cues relative to face-to- face interactions, "computer-mediated communication has been shown to level the social playing field by encouraging more lively discussions and by generating more interesting arguments [...] and in light of these considerations, computer-mediated communication may have the potential to create an environment conductive for public deliberation by attenuating the effect of the undesirable social-psychological influences on opinion expression" (p. 191). Other communication researchers tend to agree about the possibilities of computer-mediated communication arguing that its effectiveness comes from anonymity and "deliberation"

Understandably, media literacy itself will significantly influence user's self-representation online because it will help the users to analyze and assess the communication momentum that he/she is dealing with in a given moment.

In terms of current experiences and expectations from the online communication it is clear that the users are well aware of both their own self-representation and their audience expect- ations and, at the same time, they seem to be aware of other people's self-representation in a given moment. From the interview transcripts it is visible that users constantly assess their online environment and based on their assessment they construct their own Internet play- ground where they choose roles they find suitable.

Many interactions that take place online are characterized by asynchronous communication, as in online bulletin boards. An asynchronous format makes the communica- tions accessible by more individuals, as messages persist beyond the moment of the actual interaction.

Of course, asynchronous communication in an online en- vironment such as an online bulletin board is distinct from the communicative acts typical of presence research, with its emphasis on simultaneous communication. When avatars are used in the asynchronous communication characteristic of online bulletin boards, there is no immediate, two-way in- teraction.

Parasocial interaction (PSI) is the experience of a relationship on the part of a media user with a mediated persona,12 or a ''user response to a figure as if s/he were an acquaintance."