Do you let avatars make you like a person?
Sometimes people use inanimate objects or here on fluther, gender neutral jellyfish as avatars. Other people use their pictures (usually the good-looking folks, but not always). Then there are the people who use drawings.
Now, these drawings may or may not be reflective of the person, but, for what it’s worth, if it’s a picture of a pretty girl, it draws my eye, and makes me predisposed to like the person. Actually, I’ve seen men use pictures of pretty girls as avatars, probably for that very reason.
I feel reasonably certain that I’m not the only person with this predisposition to imagine that if the avatar is attractive, then the person behind it is attractive. Clearly this is at best, a shaky assumption. But the “trick”—if you want to call it a “trick”—seems to work.
So, do you get influenced by avatars like this? Do you try to fight being influenced, knowing it does not necessarily reflect the real person? Does it bother you that you are prejudiced towards attractive faces? Or, do you not think about any of these things at all?
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Um, I’d say the humorous, well designed or clever avatars make me predisposed to like someone. But I don’t tend to pay much attention to pictures or drawings of folks. (It is the internet, after all. I often assume that the truly beautiful looking people’s pics are fake.)
I could change mine to something like this
Drawing avatars make me suspicious. ;)
I don’t think much of those things myself.
no, i usually add someone to my fluther or like them based on their answers, but i’ll admit a pleasant icon is a nice perk.
@syz: nice picture i love miranda kerr
No. I can’t tell what half of them are w/o enlarging, and life is too short to bother.
yes, I like all the different avatars and how people choose them.
my avatars are my moods(which ever site I’m in that has avatars), when I log in I change it accordingly,
normal mood
upset
having a really bad day
I wouldn’t judge a fluther member by their avatar, unless it was a swastika or something such as that.
Mine’s just what I got when I first joined. You just might be over-thinking it a bit.
Apparently tyrantxseries is having an upset day today. Bad weather where you are?
@astrochuck lurve what you have done with yours.
pretty bad, too much, snow 15–20cm/rain5–10mm/wind100–125km
I’m with gail on this one; I really can’t see what half of them are anyway. If it’s something blatantly offensive I might make an assumption about the user.
Not usually. Avatars may help define a person or allow me to recognize their posts more easily. However, they don’t dictate whether or not I like a person.
Whats the difference, I figure the ambiguous ones are just an expression of the person. Plus the whole enlarging thing is just too much work. I don’t pay attention to them as much as when I get used to someone’s and notice when they change.
I admit that there are some avatars that catch my interest, such as the first one you had here at Fluther Daloon – but that was mostly because I was curious to whom that heavily tattooed backside belonged. I add people to my fluther based on their questions or answers or sometimes even their profile. I can honestly say I have never added or removed anyone based on their avatar
No. I am attracted to folks based on their answers (and implied personality).
I do, however, get attched to someone’s avatar and find it disconcerting when it changes.
I think I could only be negatively influenced by an avatar (like the swastika example), not positively.
Nope not at all. Like the others said, I can hardly see them anyway. Especially if it’s a photograph.
I think I judge people to a certain extent. For example, a particularly distasteful avatar (something gross or inappropriate, for example) tells me that the person probably isn’t all that considerate of the rules or of other people. Overall, I think when people use cute avatars, or dark avatars, or weird avatars, they’re trying to project what they want people to perceive them as on the internet. As such, their personality may act accordingly, since a personality is a large part of how you perceive someone. So perhaps an avatar is a decent way to judge how someone may be, but not who she or he really is.
My sheep is very reflective of my personality, my looks, my humor, my smarts, and my views on life. But the sheep doesn’t know that. All he knows is that the dog and the farmer might be working together, somehow.
@binary, Based on that, you’re cute
Short answer yes. I am more inclined to like someone when I feel like I ‘get’ their avatar. It creates a common bond between us.
I am more inclined to be nice to the pretty girl avatars. I know most of them are dudes but what can you do?
LOL, Bodyhead! Ain’t it the truth! I usually get a bit twigged out when I see a dude using some beautiful chick as an avatar, but still, I look. Then I give their words a glance. This works even when it’s someone whose opinions and thoughts I disagree with. Pavlovian, I tell you! Pavlovian!
I’d like to say it’s chivalry but it’s probably just my urges vying for power over my mental processes.
rofl, bodyhead. You’re killing me! It may not be pc, but it sure sounds true.
i’m still deciding on an avatar. i feel like since i’ve used this one for the majority of the time i’ve been here that i’m kind of obliged to keep with it. i don’t know what a silly pun intended WWF panda picture implies about me though. haha [=
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