Seriousness Do avatar images influence your impression of personality? - Page 5

WT Sharpe · 11-30-2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Using your real name on a public forum is fine... right up to the point where a couple of cyber-stalkers latch on to it and make thousands of posts in your name ... Use your own name with care. Being stalked is not fun.

That’s a real downside of the Internet. People who aren’t ashamed of their words and believe in standing behind what they say naturally want to use their own names. As you point out, there can be a real danger in doing so.

I began using WT Sharpe for all my postings when I first decided to add my own page (www.wtsharpe.com) to the WWW and discovered just how many other “Tom Sharpes” are out there. There are writers, a comedian, one musician who won the John Lennon Songwriting competition, and many more. I figured with WT Sharpe, I would be somewhat unique. Lately I’ve discovered there’s a young guitarist who posts his videos under that name at YouTube. That’s probably his name, as it is mine, and I wouldn’t mind – except for the Confederate Flag that seems to appear in all his videos.

Trust me, folks – that ain’t me!

tsgreer · 11-30-2009, 08:31 PM

Ok, now I'm very much in the mood to change my avatar. I love reading the stories behind everyone's avatars.

Mine is based on the very first Sony PRS-500 publicity photo. I then put whatever ebook reader I am using at the moment into the pic--this one is my BeBook. And the image shown on the ebook reader screen is from my favorite book series as a kid, the Danny Dunn books.

But now I am using a Sony PRS-300 so I need to update again...

kennyc · 11-30-2009, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

That’s a real downside of the Internet. People who aren’t ashamed of their words and believe in standing behind what they say naturally want to use their own names. As you point out, there can be a real danger in doing so.

I began using WT Sharpe for all my postings when I first decided to add my own page (www.wtsharpe.com) to the WWW and discovered just how many other “Tom Sharpes” are out there. There are writers, a comedian, one musician who won the John Lennon Songwriting competition, and many more. I figured with WT Sharpe, I would be somewhat unique. Lately I’ve discovered there’s a young guitarist who posts his videos under that name at YouTube. That’s probably his name, as it is mine, and I wouldn’t mind – except for the Confederate Flag that seems to appear in all his videos.

Trust me, folks – that ain’t me!

Yep and I've been doing business on the internet for almost 15 years now.

The same things that can happen in real life can happen here on the internet.

Stitchawl · 11-30-2009, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Use your own name with care. Being stalked is not fun.

Not only not fun for the person being stalked, but not very pleasant for those around him. I've seen quite a few very good news groups destroyed by stalkers. Some of the groups used to have hundreds of new posts daily but thanks to stalkers and trolls are down to a handful of off-topic posts per week. The people who used to frequent these groups have all move over to moderated groups, and now use screen names instead of their real names. One learns from experience.

Stitchawl

pshrynk · 11-30-2009, 08:54 PM

Well, that was scary!

Xiaopanda · 11-30-2009, 08:56 PM

An Avatar does influence my inital impression of a person / poster.

First impressions are hard to shake, so it takes some time to get over a very serious avatar if someone is a born comedian.

I also think that as the 'net is predominatly text based (at least in forums), and text is notoriously hard to find tone in, an avatar and and a screen name add an element of serurity and anonimity..... and can help sort the gender for some of those more unisex names / handles.

I chose Xiaopanda 'cos I LOVE Pandas (natures way of saying over-specialisation leads to extintion...yes, I am a little warped) And Xiao means small in Manderin, the predominate language spoken in the region I find myself. Now that I have established Xiaopanda, I find that I have no need to change the handle to reflect my change n loctation, but I can alter my avatar to suit my mood....

kindlekitten · 11-30-2009, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Not only not fun for the person being stalked, but not very pleasant for those around him. I've seen quite a few very good news groups destroyed by stalkers. Some of the groups used to have hundreds of new posts daily but thanks to stalkers and trolls are down to a handful of off-topic posts per week. The people who used to frequent these groups have all move over to moderated groups, and now use screen names instead of their real names. One learns from experience.

Stitchawl

it is AMAZING how apparently board and dedicated some of these people can be. I've suffered a bit... nothing like what you have detailed, just a bit... some of the things that you casually say that people take off with!!! whoooo boy!!!

SolRaven · 11-30-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I generally use a cat avatar. And this cat was so easy to make pictures from! He was always asleep. He passed away 1.5 years ago.

And you do know that this picture was 'shopped, right?

Yeah, I have no idea what those puppets are about but I've seen quite a few of you PS them into your avatars.

kindlekitten · 12-01-2009, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolRaven

Yeah, I have no idea what those puppets are about but I've seen quite a few of you PS them into your avatars.

there was an invasion of sock (psock) puppets one quiet weekend. happens around here. you may find otters and other assorted critters that have taken over on occasion. in spite of vigorous cleaning... well you see what happens!

GraceKrispy · 12-01-2009, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

there was an invasion of sock (psock) puppets one quiet weekend. happens around here. you may find otters and other assorted critters that have taken over on occasion. in spite of vigorous cleaning... well you see what happens!

Yes, Iʻve noticed many people are still afflicted with the psock invasion! Unlike me, I seem to "catch" every passing plague....

Luckily, they donʻt last *that* long....

Sweetpea · 12-01-2009, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

(let's see, it has Mark, DGM, Z, Daffy and I can't remember the other one!)

Ravenne! That was the missing one! And it wasn't Daffy, but Dixie...

Time for a new one....

GeoLib · 12-01-2009, 09:11 AM

This is the first time I've registered on a forum and took some time to think about a username. I feel quite shy and didn't really want to use my real name, but decided to use one which reflected what I am or have been (geographer and librarian). As for my avatar, I found it by chance and thought it was a perfect image of myself. I've been accused more than once of reading any kind of paper around me and not paying attention to anything else, so it just felt like myself.
As for the rest of avatars around here, at first it took me some time to get used to those who changed it very often. However, those with themes help to follow that person and for the rest it just means trying to remember their username. I'm not sure how influenced I am by the avatars, but they are very helpful to identify users.

Katti's Cat · 12-01-2009, 09:17 AM

Firstly - welcome to MR (if I haven't said so before).

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoLib

I've been accused more than once of reading any kind of paper around me and not paying attention to anything else, so it just felt like myself.

And the problem is??? Gotta be careful when reading or you could loose a letter. Or the page runs off. Important stuff to concentrate when dealing with the printed matter. I do that too - have learnt to make affirmative noises in carefully researched intervals because I am sure someone in the family does talk to me at one stage or another.

Ea · 12-01-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoLib

This is the first time I've registered on a forum and took some time to think about a username. I feel quite shy and didn't really want to use my real name, but decided to use one which reflected what I am or have been (geographer and librarian). As for my avatar, I found it by chance and thought it was a perfect image of myself. I've been accused more than once of reading any kind of paper around me and not paying attention to anything else, so it just felt like myself.
....

It's a very nice avatar. I've found taht even if I use another name or something made-up, I still have to feel it's 'me' in order to feel comfortable with it.

What I was originally thinking of when I started the thread, was that, like we all are influenced by our visual impression of people (AFAIK there's made enough studies that indicate we react differently to people who are taller than use (or shorter), beautiful vs. ugly, etc.), I found that I unconsciously thought differently about people with, for example, cute animal avatars vs. more serious looking images vs. humourous. It's a visual cue to their character. I don't exactly want to form an opinion/react to people based on this, but I think it happens anyway.

columbus · 12-01-2009, 09:48 AM

Do you judge posters by their Avatar? I guess it does give a first impression of both personality and maybe gender. But it is a bit like judging a book by it's cover - rarely accurate.

My couch avatar and description is me most of the time. I'm either sitting at the keyboard or on the couch /in bed reading, quite sad really! As you get older your priorities change greatly. (Plus you don't sleep so much).

It seems to me that there are multiple alter ego's here, I've never been a member of any other forum so I guess it is probably common.

11-30-2009, 08:31 PM	#62
tsgreer Lovin' the e-book life... Posts: 633 Karma: 2509 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Device: Ebookwise 1150, Sony PRS-505, Amazon Kindle, BeBook (with OpenInkpot)	Ok, now I'm very much in the mood to change my avatar. I love reading the stories behind everyone's avatars. Mine is based on the very first Sony PRS-500 publicity photo. I then put whatever ebook reader I am using at the moment into the pic--this one is my BeBook. And the image shown on the ebook reader screen is from my favorite book series as a kid, the Danny Dunn books. But now I am using a Sony PRS-300 so I need to update again... Last edited by tsgreer; 11-30-2009 at 08:35 PM.

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11-30-2009, 08:54 PM	#65
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	Well, that was scary!

11-30-2009, 08:56 PM	#66
Xiaopanda Addict Posts: 230 Karma: 1290 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Brisbane Australia Device: Kindle Paperwhite	An Avatar does influence my inital impression of a person / poster. First impressions are hard to shake, so it takes some time to get over a very serious avatar if someone is a born comedian. I also think that as the 'net is predominatly text based (at least in forums), and text is notoriously hard to find tone in, an avatar and and a screen name add an element of serurity and anonimity..... and can help sort the gender for some of those more unisex names / handles. I chose Xiaopanda 'cos I LOVE Pandas (natures way of saying over-specialisation leads to extintion...yes, I am a little warped) And Xiao means small in Manderin, the predominate language spoken in the region I find myself. Now that I have established Xiaopanda, I find that I have no need to change the handle to reflect my change n loctation, but I can alter my avatar to suit my mood....

12-01-2009, 09:11 AM	#72
GeoLib Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 230 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Madrid, Spain Device: Hanlin V3	This is the first time I've registered on a forum and took some time to think about a username. I feel quite shy and didn't really want to use my real name, but decided to use one which reflected what I am or have been (geographer and librarian). As for my avatar, I found it by chance and thought it was a perfect image of myself. I've been accused more than once of reading any kind of paper around me and not paying attention to anything else, so it just felt like myself. As for the rest of avatars around here, at first it took me some time to get used to those who changed it very often. However, those with themes help to follow that person and for the rest it just means trying to remember their username. I'm not sure how influenced I am by the avatars, but they are very helpful to identify users.

12-01-2009, 09:48 AM	#75
columbus Wizard Posts: 999 Karma: 5487540 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: In my own imagination. Device: Sony Prs 650, 505	Do you judge posters by their Avatar? I guess it does give a first impression of both personality and maybe gender. But it is a bit like judging a book by it's cover - rarely accurate. My couch avatar and description is me most of the time. I'm either sitting at the keyboard or on the couch /in bed reading, quite sad really! As you get older your priorities change greatly. (Plus you don't sleep so much). It seems to me that there are multiple alter ego's here, I've never been a member of any other forum so I guess it is probably common.

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