Your Avatar: The Importance of Character

Posted by Tommy Geraci Social Media Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Its another day on Twitter and that means people are busy recommending each other for followers.  As the day goes on, you notice some new faces in your follower list. Well, mostly new faces.  Among the faces of new friends, you notice some of the avatar pictures are of a kitten, a puppy, a pair of shoes, a half naked man, a half naked woman, and a few twitter birds.

I can totally understand being shy, see my article “How I went from being shy to less shy”.  I admit that when I first joined Twitter, Facebook, or any social media sites I contemplated not showing a picture of myself.  I was coming off a particularly painfully shy period.  Then I thought, “What would I be accomplishing by not showing the world who I really am?”  The purpose of social media is to make contacts and hopefully some new friends.  I wanted to break that cycle and push forward.

I am not suggesting that we all must show pictures of ourselves if we choose not to but we should think about what our avatar says to people who don’t know us at all.  Imagine someone seeing your picture for the first time and it is of you in your underwear.  Granted, you have a banging body but do you think it shows you are serious about social media?  Does it show you are trying to make friends or connections?  It may be sending the idea that you are trying to hook up or make a different kind of connection.  Of course if that is your intention, by all means go for it. Also, most of us don’t go about meeting new people in person in our underwear or half naked.  OK, some of you do but that is another topic for another time. 

Some people may be a bit leery of following you back because they are afraid you are hiding who you really are.  Being anonymous is a tool some people use so they can make negative comments to and about others.  Of course that is not to say that people don’t use fake pictures. Take the Johnathan Jay White case on twitter, a woman was using a picture of a sick child and claiming to be that teenage boy.  She said she was Johnathan and was suffering from cancer of the brain, she scammed quite a few people out of money and other donations.  The scam had even reached the Livestrong Foundation.  You can read about it here:

Was a cancer patient named Jonathan Jay White really a hoax?

Suspected Cancer Hoaxer Found Dead – Jonathan jay white hoax …

Also, more recently I know a few people who were tricked by a couple, the Fishers, who were claiming to be a 27 year old male doctor from Phoenix Arizona.  They gained quite a number of followers, I think somewhere near 1,400 using a picture of a male model.  Their story was that Austin an emergency room doctor and had modeled when he was younger.  It turned out they were a married couple, the wife a veterinarian, the husband a doctor.  It is unclear as to why they were running this hoax but it is alleged that she is wanted for animal abuse and they both were involved in scams before.  That account has been suspended by Twitter for months now.

Let’s not forget the countless number of people who pretend to be celebrities on line until they are caught.  One of the good things about Twitter is that normally the celebrity being imitated gets word of the fake account, or a celebrity who knows for a fact that the famous person in question is not on Twitter will call the fake out.

So, as you can see, there are reasons for people to be a bit cautious of who they follow back or even who follows them.  Keep this in mind when you are choosing your avatar picture.  You should try to make the best first impression you can.  It is your introduction to the rest of the people in the world of social media.  Make the best possible impression and remember to be yourself to get the best benefits from your social media experience.  If you want to be taken seriously, choose a serious enough avatar.  If your comfort zone is comedy, you can choose a funny picture.  If you are uncomfortable with a pic of yourself, choose one that represents your personality and how you want to present yourself to your new connections.  How you project yourself to others will determine how you are treated and how people deal with you.  Remember,  everyone has something to offer and contribute, don’t sell yourself short in any way.

Related posts:

1. The 140 Character Conference and Community

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