What Should Your Avatar Display?
We’ve all been here before - the crossroads to what our new display picture or avatar should feature. Should it be our role model? A scantily-clad celebrity? Just a word with some patterns?
I don’t know about all of you out there, but I want my avatar to represent me. And what better way to represent me than with my own picture? Pictures are a great way to connect with other users - firstly your posting a picture of yourself would make me believe you were more trustworthy and easier to connect with than someone who simply had a picture of a dog or a celebrity on their display.
If you don’t have any pictures of yourself worthy enough to post up or want to keep your privacy, that’s still cool - why not put your username or your real name on your avatar? I know many people that use this technique - even though it doesn’t convey much of you, it still represents your online self.
If you’re feeling creative or insecure about those huge moles on your face (heehee), why not use a Photoshop filter? If you don’t have Photoshop, consider using a free alternative such as Paint.NET or Gimpshop. If you’ve got a webcam and want to create your own virtual photobooth to add lots of effects, I suggest trying out SnapStrip, an alternative to Mac’s popular photobooth program.
As for posing, that’s a whole different story - I will be writing a post on that later, but feel free to be creative. The best avatars are silly (for me, anyway - not so much for the CEO of Serious Business Inc). And who says peace signs are out of style?
Stay away from putting up foul fingers, cursing, or any of that jazz - it’s got no place on your avatar, even if it’s your favourite word. It already tarnishes your reputation (or solidifies it as someone who might be looking for a fight) and definitely isn’t what you want to be promoting, especially in many of the respected online communities out there.
One thing for me to whine about - when you’re shooting that photo of yourself in the mirror, please crop the camera out. I’ve got no idea why people leave the camera in there - it almost seems on purpose - but it makes them look pretty silly sometimes, and at times it even covers up their face! What’s the point of having an avatar of yourself that blocks out your face? It only opens you up to ugly jokes.
But the most important piece of advice I’ve yet to give you is to suit yourself! I highly discourage profanity, but if you feel you’ve got nothing else to put up, then go ahead (at your own risk - not mine). It’s really you that should feel best from your avatar, and not whose looking at it.
If you want an example of the greatest avatar in the world, take a look at my About page - I’m sure you’ll get a couple of hoots out of it (if not, then you’re mature - good for you!).
And if you’ve got any questions, please hold them for now - I’m planning a few more posts on avatars because it’s actually quite the huge topic to cover.
Comments
Leave a Reply
