Changing avatars, what do you think?

I’ve changed mine about 5–6 times since I’ve been here (what, 3 months?). Not out of opportunity to influence, just because I’m a fickle jerk.

‘cept orange for Cak.

I have had essentially the same avatar ever since I joined. Usually a blue background, and it used to be a different font, but always an A. A friend added holly leaves and berries for me at Christmas time. The only reason it’s orange right now is for cak, as a show of support.

I don’t mind when other people change their avatars, though it can get confusing sometimes. What the avatar is might make me think one way or another about someone, but usually not.

I think they describe who we are. It’s a part of us.

It’s just a picture we associate with a person’s submissions.

I have only changed my avatar once since I’ve been here, and it was from a jellyfish to my Penguins. I think people are used to seeing me as I am now, so I’m not gonna change it. I don’t really judge a person by their avatar, they can change it every week (like @evelyns_pet_zebra does) :) but I will still always see them as I saw them before.

I had the same one for a long time, then I changed it to a piece of art I has commissioned. It was funny how people who had not seen my face reacted differently when there was no indication of what I looked like.
When everyone went orange for cak I put my orange colored grandson on. When she got out of the hospital I wanted to put me on there again but I was not at the computer that had my other pic, so I put me and my hubby instead.
I did have a reason for all my changes. I wish I had a good pic now that I’m brunette. I may change again.

I was just complimented on my avatar. And right before I was thinking about changing it…

I’M SO CONFLICTED!!!

@Sampson ; it is pretty cool.

I tend to associate people by avatars after a while, so when someone changes theirs (especially those who have had theirs for a while, it’s a slight adjustment.) But it’s never a big deal.

I’m one of the people who likes to switch it up every now & then, at least until I find ‘the one’ avatar I really like. Also, I bore easily.

I changed it once and thats the way it stays. Unless of course Jick sues me.

The only reason I see not to change avatars is recognition… I usually just glance at the avatars and don’t read the names. I recognize people that way. Since you’re a newbie, go ahead and change it now if you’re going to.

Since my avatar is always a picture of me, I change it often when I get new pictures that I like. I figure recognition isn’t a problem as long as people continue to recognize me. I don’t plan on drastically changing my appearance any time soon. :)

I’m not sure if they really affect the way I see people; at least, not too often. It’s true that I think of the person with a picture of themselves as being more tangible than a person with a design or something as their avatar. And the ones that keep the default seem like they’re not planning on sticking around.

I lurve change.

Actually I’m not feeling inclined to change my avatar, I guess I rather like the fact that people automatically know who I am when they see my little bit of Chagall (incidentally, I’ve always called this painting Falling into Space and I identify with that in some way, I have no idea what its real title is). It is interesting to read how people feel about avatars. Personally, I like the consistency of a static avatar but would never dream of judging anyone for changing theirs however often they chose. Change away, be happy.

@DominicX interesting your comment about default avatars…. And also your comment about photographs being more tangible than other images, I’ll have to think about that one, you may have something there… would it change anything if you knew that the photograph was not actually of the person himself/herself?

Unfortunately the size of avatars on this particular site makes seeing any kind of detail difficult so I like avatars the simpler the better (such as Augustlan or Sampson)

That’s also why I chose mine after switching from the default jellyfish. And that’s why I’m planning on keeping it without change.

Altho to be perfectly honest I don’t really know how to add pics directly from the camera roll on my iPhone. If I did I might consider a large close up pic I took of my kitty.

For anyone who doesn’t know already… to enlarge the avatar picture:

Right click on avatar
Choose copy image location or view image
Delete “_thumb” right before the ”.jpg” in the address bar
and tada!

@Adagio

It would change something knowing that it wasn’t a picture of them. It’s having the picture of the actual person behind the text that makes it seem more real and more personal. I’m not sure that a lot of people want that, but I have no problem with people seeing that in my posts so I like to post pictures of myself. And I agree with @Buttonstc that the size of the avatars prevents you from seeing the detail.

woah, my picture is huge.

GEE, THANKS FOR ALERTING EVERYONE TO MY HUGE NOGGIN, @augustlan

@Grisaille Oh you do not have a huge noggin. Besides, that is an awesome picture of you. :P

Well. Since you complimented me, I forgive you – I’m shallow like that.

sides, I find it hilarious that my money clip on my wallet is devoid of, you know. money.

OMG! Grisaille has a BIG head!~

D:

jk/ I lurve your big head :D

pfft

@augustlan ; I’m so un techno, I don’t get it.

Judi:

Right click your picture next to your name. If you’re in firefox, there should be an item called “View Image.” Click it.

When the image pops up, it should look something like “http://www.fluther.com/mogilefs/images/v2/avatars/Judi/HO9S2621_thumb.JPG”

Highlight “_thumb”, and press backspace. The press enter. The large version should appear.

Capice?

Maybe my problem is just internet explorer. Never got a “view image” option. Just “save Picture as” or “copy.”

And by “it should look something like,” I obviously mean “the address link at the top should look like”

Oh, IE?

Right click, the “Properties.” There, it should say ” Address: http://www.fluther.com/mogilefs/images/v2/avatars/Judi/HO9S2621_thumb.JPG ”

Copy that, press “OK”, paste into the address area up top, then follow the next step:

Highlight “_thumb”, and press backspace. The press enter. The large version should appear.

(okay, that was rather complicated. sowwie.)

Oh, I’d forgotten those options weren’t available in IE. Sorry! Yeah, you just want to find the URL address of the picture, which will be under ‘properties’. Copy and paste it into the address bar at the top of your page, remove “_thumb” and hit enter. Or… what @Grisaille said.

I don’t think I’ll ever change mine, I mean duh! look at it.

Yeah, but how is it pronounced?

: D

I like changing my avatar because there are so much things that you can put on your picture to describe yourself! :) Like right now I have an orange penguin and I used it to show appeciation to Cak and that I like penguins! Like Tink! =]
@Grisaille Ohh that head isnt that big :P We all love you,you’ll be ok =]

My current avatar I have used on several sites, it’s a painting I have hung in my living room that a friend did for me. I tried playing around with different ones but I always go back to this, here it is reflected in some blue shades

I still have the default avatar that Fluther assigned me when I created an account.

I had no intentions of ever changing mine, but I made the sky orange for Cak.

When I first came to Fluther, I used my master of disaster avatar. I kept it that way for a long time.

Then I switched over to my black cap avatar. I’ve used it far longer and now I employ it for most of my online presences.

I will, on occasion, change my Fluther avatar to participate in a discussion or show support for something (unfortunately, there was no good result from trying to “orange” mine up for Cak). But usually just for a day or so.

I do tend to key off of a person’s avatar more than their name when scrolling quickly through a discussion. It’s irksome when several people have the same one. Like I’ll always stop when I see the orange jelly in blue water avatar to read the quip… only to feel some disappointment when I realize that it’s not @cwilbur that wrote it.

I’ve changed it a few times since I’ve been here. I like kittens, mostly, though once I had a drawing of my face and another time I had the tiles spelling IMAGINE from Strawberry Fields in Central Park. Why kittens? Probably because IRL, I am allergic to cats, so a kitten avatar is like my “d’awwww!” quotient of the day.

@aprilsimnel Didn’t you used to ahve a bunny?

Nope, no bunnehs. I think I know which avatar you’re talking about. It was a kitten. Specifically, it’s jpg number 38 on this site.

Yes, i change mine regularly.
They are slight adjustments though.
I adjust i sometimes to make it go with a question i ask (when i asked about emigrating i put myself a nice Greek flag on my shirt).
I like details like that.

The orange tint on the pictures like @Grisaille makes me want an orange Popsicle. Its for a purpose, I know, but I still think of Popsicles.

I used to never even think about it because everything else I’ve used, my username has always been pretty obvious sitting next to it. On here, its smaller, so the recognition of the avatar might make a bigger difference.

I don’t know. I was actually going to change my avatar anyways, may as well do it now.

<———: staunch supporter of tradition and consistency.

<———: staunch supporter of orange popsicles and other such popsicley goodness

Mmmmm… popsicley goodness!

More activity since last night my last night that it is I think I get it now, some like consistency some like to mix it up. Should I be surprised? Am I surprised? No to both questions. I guess those that change their avatars keep us on our toes. By showing us that even though we may think we know who made a comment by looking quickly at the avatar, that assumption could be quite wrong.

@augustlan & @Grisaille It was great to learn how to enlarge an avatar so that I can see it properly.

I might just add that the avatars I find difficult to read are the ones that are rather dark.

@buttonstc I use it because it is simmilar to a “secret” code, my name is Jesse.

Here’s a picture of my avatar where it belongs pic

@RareDenver ; I really like the mask!

I like change! Therefore I strive to never stay the same!

@Judi It’s my wife’s mask, she grew up in Papua New Guinea and the mask was given to her family by members of the Sepik Tribe when she was a little girl, it’s slightly smudged where one of her friends (when they were teenagers and drunk) started messing around with it. It’s made from mud, wild boar hair and various animal shells.

@Judi here’s another picture of the mask

very cool.

I’m a lover of art. Usually mine is of a painting or drawing that I like.