Be Me, Or Be Mii?: a Study of Self-Presentation and Interaction in the Miitomo Mobile Application
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Human Performance Gaming CHI 2017, May 6–11, 2017, Denver, CO, USA Be Me, or Be Mii?: A Study of Self-Presentation and Interaction in the Miitomo Mobile Application Anna Kasunic Geoff Kaufman Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, USA Pittsburgh, PA, USA [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT In Miitomo, each user is represented by and interacts In this study, we consider what Nintendo’s widely through an animated, talking “Mii,” a free-form digital downloaded Miitomo mobile application, which avatar. Users begin by setting up their own Mii and simultaneously promotes non-idealized self-fictionalization answering a series of questions about themselves; other and authentic self-presentation, can suggest to us about self- users can later see/hear one another’s responses when their presentation and technology design. Ten groups of four Miis “converse.” The app allows users to answer questions friends each (N=40), all novice users, engaged with posed by their own Miis or others’ Miis, hear responses to Miitomo for one week, and completed supplementary pre- questions from other Miis, comment on or “heart” (i.e., and post-use surveys. The data were analyzed to assess the “like”) these responses, and change their Miis’ clothing. extent to which participants’ engagement in Miitomo reflected their “real life” selves and correlated with in-app As we will discuss in more depth momentarily, some and “real life” features, respectively. Although most elements of the app encourage users to self-fictionalize, but participants believed that their behaviors within the app others pull for more authentic self-presentation. In this accurately reflected their “true selves,” we found that in- study, we sought to understand how this interplay of app traits generally correlated more strongly with Miitomo authenticity and fantasy/self-distancing plays out in novice engagement patterns than did users’ “real life” traits and Miitomo users’ self-presentation and interactions. Our two qualities. We discuss implications for social network and primary research questions were: online community design, and propose future plans to study To what extent are participants’ Miis distinct from their authenticity and self-distancing in online self-presentation. “real selves”? Author Keywords To what extent do app-specific and “real life” features Self-presentation; self-distancing; fantasy; authenticity; correlate with engagement in the app? personality; mobile application; social networks. RELATED LITERATURE ACM Classification Keywords Miitomo’s design lies somewhere between a social network H.5.m. Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI): and a game, and we therefore consider literature about self- Miscellaneous. presentation in a) social networks and b) avatar game contexts. Research of presentation online has consistently INTRODUCTION found that people are motivated to self-present Miitomo, the game company Nintendo’s first mobile app, authentically. For example, in online social settings that first launched in Japan and then gradually released involve avatar representation, such as instant messaging, worldwide in the Spring of 2016, enjoyed high early th people generally self-present to show their authentic success, quickly becoming the 13 most popular social app personality and/or appearance [6]. Research has shown that in Japan and, as of April 2016, had more than 10 million we can reliably predict people’s personality from their users [12]. It also showed early evidence of success, with Facebook profile photos [4], that friend groups present their average retention exceeding the 3-7 days typical of mobile actual, non-idealized selves in social networks [2], and that apps [9]. With its juxtaposition of fantastic and realistic individuals self-disclose differently on social media elements, and its simultaneous pull for fictionalized self- depending on their personality [10]. In fact, people may distancing and authentic, non-idealized self-disclosure, the express their true (not ideal) selves better online than face- app merits further observation from an HCI perspective. to-face [3], although CMC may increase self-awareness and perceiving others as self-centered [7]. Sstudies have Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal explored authenticity versus self-fictionalization via self- or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice idealization. In one study, users that engaged with avatars and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work representing their ideal future physical selves engaged in owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is more healthy behaviors [5], but other studies have shown permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions that idealized self-fictionalization can impede expression of from [email protected]. the “true self,” such as in online dating contexts, where CHI 2017, May 06-11, 2017, Denver, CO, USA there is pressure to present oneself positively [14]. Due to © 2017 ACM. ISBN 978-1-4503-4655-9/17/05…$15.00 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025934 1973 Human Performance Gaming CHI 2017, May 6–11, 2017, Denver, CO, USA the unique design features of Miitomo, in the present study where Aron asks, Would you like to be famous? In what we depart from previous work by focusing on authenticity way? Miitomo asks, If you became a celebrity, what would versus non-idealized self-fictionalization. you want to be famous for? These questions seem to encourage users to sincerely self-present in the app. As suggested by theory and research on the Proteus Effect, [16], users assume the characteristics or traits of their However, questions also incorporate elements of fantasy; avatars. For example, those embodying a reportedly more 56 of the 546 questions in our study were conditional attractive avatar were more willing to self-disclose, and questions, asking users to consider future or hypothetical those with taller avatars self-presented more confidently. circumstances. Several of these involved fantastical Avatar choices may not align with authentic personality or scenarios, such as freezing time, combining any two appearances; examples from the literature on role-playing animals into the perfect pet, or being sucked into the TV. games have found that players often purposefully choose Users can also dress their Mii in various outfits, including characters with traits and appearances that diverge from bizarre options like hot dog costumes and banana suits. The their “real life” selves [17], but that in taking on “other” Miis are also cartoonish in both appearance and action, with roles, players also incorporate aspects of their true selves, desexualized bodies that do not vary by gender. When or, conversely, the role-playing and true selves merge as relating a response or comment involving love or affection, players assume aspects of their characters in their daily a Mii’s eyes might suddenly transform into hearts. When lives [15]. Yet Miitomo differs from such examples in that expressing excitement, the Mii may produce a shower of 1) the “role” you assume is intended to be your own self confetti out of thin air. Similarly, the customizable voice and 2) while still remaining “me,” users are urged to options are cartoonish and robotic rather than lifelike. present themselves in fictional, largely non-idealized ways. Where prior literature has studied contexts in which users may feel persuaded to present idealized selves, the Miitomo AUTHENTICITY AND FANTASY IN MIITOMO We present here a more detailed discussion of the Miitomo app could be said to discourage idealization, leading users platform to abet understanding of the dynamic between the to self-present in surreal or even downright ridiculous ways. authentic self and the non-idealized fictionalized self in Miitomo’s design. The Miitomo platform encourages you to view your Mii as the you in many respects. As a new Miitomo user, you can allow the app to automatically create a Mii for you based on their photo, and are instructed, “Choose from a wide library of facial features to make your Mii look just like you” [18]. The app prompts you to set profile features, including five voice dimensions (speed, Figure 1. Photos of the authors’ Miitomo Miis pitch, depth, accent, and energy) and five personality dimensions (manners, movement, individuality, attitude and Nintendo’s Miitomo design intentions seem purposefully expression), chosen using sliders on an 8-point scale. ambiguous, flirting equally with authenticity and playful self-distancing. As producer Sakamoto explained in an Yet in the app, it is often unclear whether you should view interview [11], “It's a combination of this feeling that you your Mii as self or other. When you first encounter your can speak indirectly, and this realistic feeling that this is the Mii, it walks up to you and greets you with, “Oh, hi! How’d real person…” It is not immediately clear to what extent the you get in? Oh, you’re me! Or I’m you—same thing.” As Mii is intended to be the “real self” or some playful, you continue with the app, your Mii speaks with other users fictionalized version of oneself. as your representative, but also communicates with you. You may observe your Mii talking to another Mii, METHOD ostensibly without your control, but when you click on the For this study, we recruited 10 groups of four novice Mii, you assume its role and engage directly with the other Miitomo users each (N=40) to engage with the Miitomo user. application for one week on their mobile devices. We recruited undergraduate and graduate students (aged 18+) to The 546 distinct questions that users encountered in our sign up in friend groups of four.