Avatars

[action]

Do avatars change how you see a user or user's character? If a user has a rather stupid avatar, does that make you see them as a knownothing "newbie"? And why do you think this is, if you agree?

Sorry this is such a short post - couldn't think of anything to add though. But tell me what you think,
-abreaction

 

[moog]

Depends. Anything with a terrible anime avatar, then probably they are nooby.

 

[High Hopes]

I've been curious as to people's perception based on avatars myself. I personally change mine once a month or so to coincide with my interests(usually wrestling related) or other things I found cool. My avatar changes to represent changes in my interests.

Getting back on topic, I generally don't prejudge people based on their avatar.

 

[mawk]

not the avatar itself, so much as the way it reflects on the owner's tastes. if it's some frame of a bad anime I've seen a million other places, I'm not very confident about their tastes. if it's some frame of a bad anime run through photoshop filters with their name in an unnecessarily ornate font, I'm not very confident that the owner isn't kidding themselves. of course, this is all pretty minor; usually, what they're saying speaks better than what they try to look like.

 

[mawk]

I will however say that if someone has an avatar with rainbow shades they are obviously nothing less than a bodhisattvah on earth and are to be trusted and admired

 

[Ellie]

Changing my avatar is what made me a mod.

I find that whenever I have a faggy avatar I act faggy. Like... my avatar affects how I MYSELF post.

 

[dadevvtsvre]

Other than what somebody says, avatars are the first impression about the person that we see. But you really can't tell much about a membe from a small 150 x 150 picture on the internet. You should really judge how somebody acts from their posts, rather than their avatar. All it shows you is a tiny sample of their tastes. Somebody with a video game sprite as their avatar, for example, shows that they like video games, or at least the game that's represented in their avatar. But that's all you know about them.

That being said, you can usually tell a lot more about people who's avatars look something like this:

 

[Stardust]

I find that whenever I have a faggy avatar I act faggy. Like... my avatar affects how I MYSELF post.

This, basically. :P

For me, avatars are a representation of the person behind them. It's like in The Surrogates - you can be whoever you want to be. Although there are times where people can prove me wrong on this, I think a person's avatar can say a lot about them. I actually find it frustrating when someone doesn't have an avatar because I use them to determine who someone is a little bit beforehand. It's not a determining factor in how much I like someone after getting to know them, but it certainly gives a first impression.

 

[Ellie]

I also don't tend to read usernames if I see the avatar first as I can tell reasonably who's talking.

 

[Stardust]

Yeah, me too. That's why the Halloween theme messes me up so much. :x

 

[action]

I kept trying to find my own posts, and decipher new ones in that theme - I was completely screwed up. But still, changing names can be just as big as changing an avatar - maybe more.

 

[Guest]

;D

 

[Jason]

Well to be honest, I think alot of people thought of me as a noob when I first joined, cause for the first week or so, my picture was Leonidas lol, although to be honest the film WAS great.

And since then, every avatar I've had has related to my own stuff, like it's usually some kind of pixel art or some picture I've made using Flash (I hate Photoshop and Fireworks, but can use Flash fine, and actually like using it for drawing, weird o.O)

Like, at the moment, I've got Jesus Brist as my pic, although that DID only get put there after the whole Jbristianity vs Whynotology debate, lol... otherwise it would've been some random pixel art I did.

I've got to agree with Arbi and Wyatt too, I only tend to look at someones avatar, and if I can't tell who it is from that, then I look at their name.

 

[Venetia]

I also don't tend to read usernames if I see the avatar first as I can tell reasonably who's talking.

yea basically. i only look at the name if i don't recognize the avatar.

^

also

i am changing my av to this after xmas it's amazing look at those flashing colors it really symbolizes my emotions or something

 

[Glitchfinder]

For some reason, the only thing I use avatars for is to find my last post in aa thread, to figure out where I left off. This brings up an interesting question, at least for me. What kind of impression did my avatar give you guys, the first time you saw it? I haven't changed it at all since coming here, with the exception of minor edging updates.

 

[candle]

While I do think that a person's avatar can be seen as a reflection of their personality, I tend to take it more as just an image i can associate a set of opinions to. As a side note, how do you all view certain members based on their avatars?

 

[Stardust]

@Glitchfinder - your avatar is very boring and dry, imo. :x

@candle - I still don't know if you're a guy or a girl. >_>

One thing I've noticed is that I determine a person's gender by their avatar. Unless I see something saying otherwise, I assume you are the gender of your avatar.

 

[Venetia]

yea me too. i tend to look upon people with feminine av's as speaking with a feminine timbre.
except wyatt, i always imagine him talking really deep, like buffalo bill from silence of the lambs ;x
("it puts the lotion on its")

>.>

For some reason, the only thing I use avatars for is to find my last post in aa thread, to figure out where I left off. This brings up an interesting question, at least for me. What kind of impression did my avatar give you guys, the first time you saw it? I haven't changed it at all since coming here, with the exception of minor edging updates.

honestly i can't make it out. you've said it's a post-apocalyptic city or something. to me it looks like a blotchy grey cube. i have a very hard time distinguishing between greys, blues, and purples.

 

[action]

@Guardian:I agree - I always used to think wyatt was a girl. Now I realize he's niether.
But candle's avatar? How can you not tell it's a girl? She has breasts, for gods sake!

 

[Venetia]

he was referring to candle IRL, not the av. he doesn't know if candle is a dude or a fem.