The influence of the avatar

How much influence does a member's avatar have? Many of the avatar's have a significant influence on my perception of that member. The name has a slight influence but the avatar, as inaccurate as it may be, seems to be capable of conveying an idea of the members mood, intelligence, experience, importance and philosophies.

That's a very interesting observation! If I don't 'know' someone from their posts, their name and avatar are clues to who they are.

Why don't you have one? Trying to hide something?

My dog likes p-nut butter.

[edit on 24-3-2006 by Benevolent Heretic]

then why don't u have an avater? if it seems to be something that makes an impression on you, why aren't you equally tempted to express yourself with it...

just a thought,

peace bro

What does the fact that I use thirty or more say about me????

You're an attention-suck?

Hey now, don't pressure him.

I didn't get an avatar for almost a year. I just never got around to it. Then Loam made this one for me and it's perfect and I love it.

Thanks again Loamy Green Foamy!

Avatars can be a wonderful expression of personality.

BUSTED.

...or a bit paranoid someone might recognize me....

No problem, Duzey, I'm glad you like it!

[edit on 24-3-2006 by loam]

To me, its 51,200 sq. pixels I can use for whatever I want. I'm going to use it for editorial purposes. Aw shucks, just got hit with a one-line warning...

Remember this haiku,

an old form of prose
that automatically
dodges one-line warns

NC

Well I think it depends, sometimes an avatar can give the wrong impression, but for the most part I tink the avatar just adds to the personality expressed through ones postings.


As for mytym not having an avatar, it's not abnormal, I did'nt have an avatar for the first 8 months I was a member, JAK made me my first one, and since I figured out how to edit pictures and add effects, I make my own.

I partly don't have one because I can't be bothered and partly to be different I guess. It's a bit like the mobile phone trend, I have gone this long without one that I'm now becoming an endangered species. Ironically it may be an ego thing.

The avatar's with famous people such as Mulder from the X-Files, the guy from X-men, Robert DeNiro and the Thomas Crowne characture (sp) come to mind and always make me feel like I'm dealing with the character rather than the member.

Consider it this way, mytym...it's space on a web page that you can use for whatever you want (without being offensive), that a bunch of people will look at and judge you by (and you will be judged by your avatar). Do you care how you're judged?

NC

The only thing I've ever used avatars for is to quickly identify who posted what. For my avatar though, I changed alot during my first 2 years here. I've always wanted something amusing that could be clearly seen, and that was somewhat associated with what I usually post about or my Login name. A while ago I found my recent avatar, which I think is absolutely perfect. I won't be changing my avie for a long, long time. BTW, You need to get an avatr or ELSE

Good point. I do use avatars to quickly select posters when scrolling through threads.

NC

mostlyghengis kahn!!!!!!:>Dmostly

Dr Love's avatar always sticks in my mind. That and the way he carries himself are a perfect match. I could'nt imagine the good Dr with any other avatar.

Ever since I joined the great ATS I have found that looking at any Avatar puts a picture in my mind of what that person looks like and something about them, ie how old they are and their personality.

I think Loams Avatar, being green in colour and showing pics of nature always brings a feeling of calm and reassurance to me for some reason, and I find that I always stop and read anything Loam has posted and even if I dont immediateley agree with what has been posted - I end up thinking well if Loam wrote that then it must be right ! - strange.

I got quite a shock when I looked through the thread of members pics and saw what people looked like compared to the pictures in my mind formed by what I had imagined, based on their Avatars.

A nice avatar, combined with a matching background colour greatly increases a member's 1337ness factor, as well as my respect for them. A mod with a nice avatar and signature is the one thing that truely instills fear in my heart

I also tend to disregard anybody with less than 1000 points and no avatar, or people with very tiny avatars. Yes size matters as well

I also use my unique purpleyness to find my last post on a thread, so I know where to pick up reading again =).

[edit on 25-3-2006 by Yarcofin]

Than you, Jamesmichael. It's nice to be respected.

Pssssst... the check should arrive in the mail any day now...


[edit on 25-3-2006 by loam]

I'm a nobody!!!!

Not really... I thought about putting one, but haven't set aside the time to do one. I know what I want, I'm just lazy, I guess. LOL!

The member name is also an interesting one that provides a window into the mind of the member and can influence another's perception of them. I notice sometimes that people write their real name at the bottom of posts. It's interesting to compare the real name with the member name. I wonder if this is intentional or a force of habit?