Our Avatars have a lot to do with how we interact with each other

There is nothing pretentious about my avatar. That is an actual picture of me. I do wonder if some of the angelic female avatars aren't actually some fat hairy guy wearing a stained up wife-beater.

a reply to: amazing

My avi represents me well, I retain almost all I read, I am a giant black hole for knowledge, I just suck it all up.

Also I am kind of a dark humor realist type, so it fits my name and personality well.

Very early on, I went to the fine avatar creators to make one for me. They did, I got spanked by a super mod right off the bat for it showing a bare bottom. They then made a loin cloth to cover the bare bottom...so I could keep using it. It still got me in trouble with some members thinking I was hot to trot.

So now, I wear the fairy with her dragons, no cleavage, nor bare bottom. The current avy was also made in the avatar creations thread by the generous creative minds there.

It's stopped those pesky u2u's asking if I want to go out with them virtually. Did I say that right....

Des

Know how I feel about you all

a reply to: Cuervo

funny considering what i was about to change my avatar to.

I enjoy other people's avatars, it really helps when reading a thread to have them. I'll login just so it'll show avatars haha.

Now, I do not have one, I think it goes with the way I'd like to be perceived here... just in-and-out of threads, popping up randomly, nobody knows who I am

After much deliberation and thought, I chose my avatar to reflect not just my feelings, but also I wanted it to reflect not only my past; but present and future. It was a difficult decision, to say the least, but I do believe I have captured the essence of what my vision of avatars should be.

However, I have changed it several times, but I always return to this one, the best one, I think.

a reply to: NightFlight

There is no avatar...



ETA: was that the point? if so, I think I need more coffee...

a reply to: amazing

Dunno. I just like the quote of mine.
That and I haven't been bothered to change it in the passed year or so.

this one is temporary for a thread i'll be making shortly

I see folks avatars as on-line faces. Just scrolling down and seeing a familiar face will give me pause and see what they have to say.

Those with no Avatar, but at least a paragraph of text will also give me pause as well. No Avatar and a one or two liner post I may miss it.

however, i usually do use this as an avatar for most of my profiles on other websites.. it represents something very important to me, in which I had found this relief afterwards that I identified it with.

originally posted by: Jarring
however, i usually do use this as an avatar for most of my profiles on other websites.. it represents something very important to me, in which I had found this relief afterwards that I identified it with.

Awesome. If I were born in a chick-suit, I would probably use Isis as my avatar so I get it. The Egyptian pantheon used to frighten me until I saw how it connected to my own.

a reply to: Cuervo

yeah, it frightened me too at first, but I slowly accepted it. and just used it to identify myself with my repentance of sneering/prejudice/hatred/pride/etc over the course of 3 years.. it all started with the nose.

And so much more came with it, even years later I still keep seeing things I never would have before had I not done this.

just made that thread btw

I chose this avatar because of my nickname Doogle

And it is a bit stupid

just like me

a reply to: LadySkadi

Thanks for the posts, everyone.

It is all about the content, but avatars do have a small effect on my replies. I may say the exact same thing, more or less, to two people, but I've found that my words are a little harsher if the avatar is dark or aggressive and a little more friendly, less sarcastic if it's an avatar that appeals to me. I can't be the only one, though. lol And it's like every time I read one of Phages posts, i read it in the voice of John Lithgow and I imagine him actually talking like that in real life! LOL

i use the avatars to reconize people and the post i like to read most

There seem to be a few avatars that have a strong character
trait that does affect my sense of what type of reply I may expect,
or what type of conversation I may get into with this person.

Some avatars command an instant, if unearned, respect because
of this. Though I suspect it's objective for each viewer.

Beezer's is a good example of an inviting avatar that connotes
an easygoing nature of the poster behind it. I recall Phage once
changed his avatar to a hang-glider picture and even though
I KNEW it was the same personality behind the words written,
they did seem to lose a bit of authority because of the
avatar change.

There seem to be very few people whose avatar actually fits
the personality behind the meme....although it's really cool
when a poster has a strong enough self-awareness of his own
character and chooses an avatar that fits.

I'm actually much more jovial than my "keeping an eye on you"
chihuahua presents.

a reply to: amazing

Personally, I believe that peoples avatars and identifying marks, including their signatures, are secondary to the content and opinion that they contribute. I make a point of reading a post before I even glance left to see which member posted it, specifically to remove that variable.

Also, it has to be said, that I come here every day because this is one of the rare places where one is mostly judged by ones peers on metrics which I actually value, those being the ability to think critically, and communicate effectively, as well as the sum of a persons knowledge.

I hand out stars and flags when I like a post. I am just as likely to hand stars and flags to someone with an awesome avatar, as I am to a member without an avatar. Put another way, the facade is not what I value here. What I value is the ability to learn from the membership, to use my mind to navigate the ebb and flow of information funnelled through this site, to educate myself using this resource to the best of my ability, and to share my own understanding of the subject matter, that others might perhaps benefit from my perspective, and indeed, indicate when my perspective is skewed (hey, it happens).

One of the many things that brings me back here, is that unlike flesh life, ATS life is based on what is inside, not what one witnesses on the outside.

Now, my own avatar is just me in a suit, drinking an unending glass of rum and coke. It does not say anything worth interpreting about me, but people may think of me what ever they wish, as long as they pay me the respect that I pay them, in discussing the issue at hand, rather than the poster who contributes their thoughts, and offers them up in good faith.