Does an Avatar affect your perception of the poster?

[vandermolen]

Yes, I recall.  I think I changed mine to this



with the tag l line "I think you are going to need a bigger boat."

The one time M. improved of me, briefly.

V funny 

[Scarpia]

V funny 

Too bad M forever couldn't restrain himself from going over the line of simple human decency.  He had a lot of interesting things to say about music.

Anyway, I'm already getting tired of my Hopper painting Avatar.  Too pretty and inocuous.  Maybe I should spice it up a bit by switching to one of the indecent Hopper paintings, with boobs and all!   

[vandermolen]

OK, I've changed my Avatar. Quiz question (no prizes) who is it?

[Opus106]

OK, I've changed my Avatar. Quiz question (no prizes) who is it?

Can I cheat?

[Scarpia]

OK, I've changed my Avatar. Quiz question (no prizes) who is it?

Rimsky-Korsakov?

[Bogey]

This one?

Looks close, but something is a bit off.

[MN Dave]

Looks close, but something is a bit off.

So many zombies have come and gone in my life.

[bhodges]

So many zombies have come and gone in my life.

"Today's Signature Suggestion" 

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

I should do that study. To begin with, I should change my avatar from Kimi to Confucius and see if people take me more seriously.

Oh, Kimi would just like to see someone try . . . .

[karlhenning]

Let it not be forgotten that he was also, as has been the case with nearly all truly great men, a homo-sexualist.

What arrant nonsense.

[Keemun]

I always liked the "my features whilst listening to" avatars though.   Anyway it looks the bottomline is that nearly all of us are not so superficial that we judge someone by their avatar, but we all have different preferences for what is a good avatar. Can we all agree on that?

I definitely liked John's avatars, and I can agree with you about different preferences for what is a good avatar.  But I don't think it is superficial to judge people by their avatars.  An avatar is what we use to represent ourselves to others.  We all judge people to some extent by their appearance, behavior and beliefs.  An avatar is no different.  For some reason it is acceptable to exercise "good judgment" but it is bad to be "judgmental."  The distinction itself is subjective, and therefore judgmental.    I do think, however, that it can be bad to take negative actions based on one's judgments.

[Lethevich]

OK, I've changed my Avatar. Quiz question (no prizes) who is it?

Bantock Rimsky was a good guess, the two do look alike.

[hornteacher]

Sheesh, five pages in one day on this thread.  Apparently I need to log on more often.  The logic behind my avatar is simple:

1) I love how she plays
2) I've met her and she is a genuinely nice person
3) I think she's cute

What that says about me I don't know (other than I like talented, sweet, cute people).

[Antoine Marchand]

What that says about me I don't know (other than I like talented, sweet, cute people).

That's true about your avatar; but your signature could make you a candidate for a restraining order.

[Scarpia]

That's true about your avatar; but your signature could make you a candidate for a restraining order.

The impression I get from the avatar and caption, in a word, creepy.   

[kishnevi]

Okay,  changed my avatar to a non musical option. Anyone recognize it?  Familiarity with British TV shows might be helpful.

[karlhenning]

Bantock Rimsky was a good guess, the two do look alike.

I love your av, Sara! Makes me smile at the thought of Him Who Inspired It ; )

[knight66]

I do look for clues about who I am dealing with. Especially if they seem to be causing trouble. I also like to be clear whether I am addressing a male or a female. (Yes I do know it has to be one or other.) On-line identity is fluid and slippery....remember Pink Harp/Eric and his male and female personas.

So, on occasion the avatar can tell me something; though equally, it can lead me up the garden path. Some posters I have thought to be much older than they are by combining the avatar and what turns out to be a young fogey writing style.

As I have a poor memory for names, often I can at once clue into the poster by the avatar....until they change them. Names are also sometimes revealing, but as with all else, of only tidal reliability.

My own avatars were usually my own photos; I enjoy taking photos of buildings. 'Michel', the banned one not to be confused with 'M', used to PM me along the lines of...Not more of your f***ing photos of buildings! But recently the site has been refusing to accept Photobucket, so I just pick them from the Net.

Springrite opined the habit some have of quoting posters to their possible disadvantage: that is not, for me, about extending a fight. Usually I am simply quoting a little gem I encountered while trying to cover the ground. I am only quoting something they posted and that is 'permanently' on the site.

Turning to names chosen: my own was basically an accident, as this was the first internet site I joined, I thought that I was feeding in a password and that my on-line name would be Mike, but I decided just to leave it. So, you can't conclude much from my name here, but it has proved useful to in effect have two, as I use the 'K' one when moderating.

I also enjoy Bruce's gallery and I have missed MNDave, so get posting lad.

Mike

[MN Dave]

I also enjoy Bruce's gallery and I have missed MNDave, so get posting lad.

Yes, sir. 

Mike, you do know you can change your avatar by uploading a file from your computer? No Photobucket necessary.

[knight66]

Dave, yes, I have tried that several times without success.

Mike