Monday January 14, 2008
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Monday January 14, 2008 | What Your Avatar Says About You | Humor |
As social networking sites increase in popularity, so do the number of avatars that people use to represent themselves. Y'know, the little picture that appears next to someone's post or message. I've noticed that there are only a finite set of avatar styles. Using my imaginary Ph.D in Internet Psychology I have analyzed what the various avatar styles mean.
Update [02/22/2008]: Thanks to @monkchips, I must add one more: The Chin Hold (a.k.a. Chin Posin'). Coming soon, the group photo, aka, "Which one are you?"
What Your Avatar Says About You
| Avatar Style | Examples | Description | Meaning |
| The Portrait |   |
Close up of the whole face, focused and nicely centered. | You are confident in your appearance and don't mind stalkers knowing what you look like. I originally called this the "Normal" but you really don't see it as much as you would think. |
| The Off-Center |  
|
Similar to the the Portrait, but with the subject to the left or right. | You find the Portrait to be a little too square for your tastes (no pun intended). You may be a geek, but you're not a nerd! |
| The Half-Face |  
|
Only show the left or right side of your face. Sometimes just the top. | You consider the Portrait to be boring and you want to be edgy and cool. You might be a little insecure, but you still want people to know it's you. |
| The Too-Close |  
|
Taking the Half-Face to the next level, you go for the extreme close up! It's almost always on the eye. | Like the Half-Face, only edgier. Only people who already know you can tell that it's you. Why the eye? Because it's still personal. Also, there are less zits on your eyes. |
| The Distorted |  
|
Could be blurry, over-exposed or processed. | You are not only edgy and cool, but also a little disturbed or tormented! You also know how to use photo editing software. Or you might just be a really bad photographer. |
| The Obscured |  
|
You face is hidden behind some object. Bonus for creating the Half-Face. | You are introverted, or perhaps in an Austin Powers movie. You like to be behind the scenes and don't crave the lime light, mainly because you fear limes. |
| The Reflection |  
|
a.k.a. The Camera. Taking a picture of yourself in a mirror, complete with the camera. Sometimes a special subclass of the Obscured. | You are a photographer and want people to know it. Apparently, you also don't know how to use a tripod or ask a friend to take your picture. Maybe you don't have any friends. |
| The Far-Away |  
|
Hello! I'm the pixel just left of center. Bonus points if it's also blurry. | You are shy and this maintains your anonymity. You like to keep things at a distance until you feel more comfortable. Much like a feral cat. |
| The Pose |  
|
A picture taken just for your avatar. Sometimes taken with a web cam. | You are a control freak and want everything "just so." You probably change your avatar three times a day. |
| The Look-Away |  
|
Direct eye contact? Not here. | You are aloof and care free and perhaps subservient. Don't pick me...Please, don't pick me!! |
| The Mac-Book |  
|
A subclass of the Pose. Using the Mac's built-in camera and image filters. | You just bought a Mac Book Pro. Congratulations! |
| The Action Shot |  
|
A picture of yourself doing something exciting. | You want to show everyone that you're not as boring as your tweets, blogs and Facebook updates would indicate. |
| The Perspective |  
|
Taking a picture of yourself from a weird angle. Usually taken with a cell phone. | You're just lazy. You can't even be bothered to lift your hands to take the picture. |
| The Chin Hold (new!) |   | Similar to The Look-Away, but you are holding your chin. See @chinposin | You are authoritative, smart, thoughtful, or a copycat. Perhaps you just have a big zit on your chin. |
| The Companion |  
|
Yourself with your child(ren), pet, toy or perhaps security blanket. Almost never includes the spouse. | It's your way of saying, "I'm ugly, so look at my beautiful cat." |
| The Kid |  
|
Just your child, or yourself as a child. | You used to be cute, but no more. So look at me from the past, or look at my progeny. |
| The Cartoon |  
|
A cartoon version of yourself as the Simpsons, South Park, Second Life, Mii, WoW or the caricature artist from the mall. | You let others be creative for you and then take the credit. |
| The Celebrity |  
|
A picture of someone else, basically. | There is nothing interesting about me so I'll just take someone else's persona, even if they are fictional. |
| The Abstract |  
|
A non-human image: either a graphic or some trinket. | You don't want anyone to know anything about you. Not that there is anything worth knowing. |
| The Logo |  
|
Part, or all, of a tech site's logo. | You are a high level blogger. Please read my site and feed my ego and drive up my ad revenue. |
| The Default |  
|
The default avatar. | Welcome to the Internets, n00b. |
Note: All of these images are real avatars from Twitter that I took from either the public feed or from people that I follow. You guys know that this is a joke and that I love you all. Right? Guys? Uh, put down that cactus!
Tags: avatar icon networks picture psychology social
January 14, 2008 02:27 AM PST Permalink | Comments [13] |
Comments:
Funny! Though I think mine would qualify as "The Perspective" vs "The Pose". MBP on an ottoman and had to scrunch down to get in the frame.
It's the scrunching that moves you from The Perspective to The Pose.
Hmm. Kind of upsetting that my avatar DOES define me. Will have to change it up.
I use two different avatars. One is an heavy modified Southpark version (I did myself most of the job), it shows me "southparked" with a dear friend (just friend!) of mine, also "southparked". This one is used for messenger/jabber/gtalk/other IM stuff. The other is, well see if by yourself on my flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neugens/ (the one that I feel represents me better, but for historical reasons I don't use it for IM).
What do they means for you? :)
I don't see these description fit very well within my understanding of me, but I maybe be very wrong here ;)
neugens, you fall into The Hybrid class: a combination of two or more other classes. You went for a combination of The Cartoon, The Obscured, and The Pose. It means that you have too much time on your hands. :)
Hmmm...of all the styles, "Off-Center" would be my primary preference with a dash of "Pose" and "Distorted".
OMG, my boss is a feral cat! ;-)
Posted by Joanne Kisling on January 23, 2008 at 11:42 AM PST #
Great posting. Thanks for listing all the different options.
Posted by Edwin Goei on January 31, 2008 at 08:07 AM PST #
I am sure you mean "public" feed!!
Posted by Joanne on February 13, 2008 at 01:10 PM PST #
Ha! That's what you get for reading carefully! :) Will fix!
how about the caricatures of these?
Posted by san diego wedding photographer on July 09, 2008 at 02:46 PM PDT #
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Kevin Chu, Some Rights Reserved.
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