28 comments

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  Carol Deckert

  10 months ago

  I'm with you on this one! LOL! I really DON'T like Avatars, I prefer to see the person's face. Online it's tough enough to form relationships, but at least having their actual face to look at, makes it a whole lot easier. Don't remember who said it, but I agree with "Trust begins with the eyes. The eyes are the window to your soul." So avatars, cartoon or otherwise are out for me! Please let me see the real "you!"
  
  Carol Deckert
  Netweaving/Networking Coach
  RUNLancaster.com
  http://www.runlancaster.com
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  That's a great call about the windows of the soul.
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  Rex Hammock

  10 months ago

  I agree with you on the need to be consistent with branding. However, just like Google does, I think it's okay to have fun with your brand every once in a while.
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  Marc

  10 months ago

  It's a little different though. When I type in Google.com I know I'm are going there. If however I go to Twitter's website or open Twitterific and see posts from someone with some wild looking Japanese style cartoon, I might be inclined to wonder "Who the hell is that and how did they get into my time line" before a realize "Oh, that's @r". IMHO, that can sometimes disrupt the conversation.
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  That's a great point. We know what we're getting when we arrive at Google,
  plus the page never changes just the icon. It's different when all we have
  is out icon/avatar. Word.
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  I agree, but "once in a while" is the best approach. I've been guilty of
  doing this from time to time too:
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/davemadethis/sets/...
  
  Cheers Rex.
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  Alisha

  10 months ago

  I am also finding it hard to figure out who's who because the manga faces almost look the same! And the avatars are the first thing I recognize as well, so since there is a huge difference between their original avatar and their manga one, I have to look to see who it is.
  
  I have to admit though, I did have fun creating a manga, but I didn't have any plans on changing my avatar everywhere. Might have had something to do with that it didn't look anything like me. :D
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  Ha! Yes, it's funny how we decide they look like us. I think it should be up
  to other people to create your avatar. This way we can get a more honest
  appearing version. For example, mine probably wouldn't have an extra chin or
  two if someone else made it. :-)
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  Rob Robinson

  10 months ago

  Nice Manga Dave there, Dave. I created my own Manga Me, but I decided against changing my avatar anywhere for the same reasons you mentioned. Consistency in branding, even personally on the Web, is important.
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  Consistency is key. :-)
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  SusanVillasLewis

  10 months ago

  I actually did one. But unlike most other people, managed to figure out how to make the background a different color, so it actually stands out from the crowd. I think it has more personality than my picture did, and makes me feel a little better about not having my actual face out there. And I changed it everywhere, posted notices so my contacts would realize I had changed and plan to keep it for a long time. Plus, it looks amazingly like me.
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  That's a good point, if you're planning on changing it across all of your
  networks. I understand that not everybody wants to show the world their
  face, but I think as social media progresses and becomes more common we'll
  want to include our own faces.
  
  It's tough looking for online friends at conferences if all you know is an
  avatar rather than a picture.
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  SusanVillasLewis

  10 months ago

  Also a good point. But I'd never be able to find you at a conference based on your picture. :-) And the one I had before would have done you no good either. We would have been screwed making a connection anyway.
  
  Actually, since I do have video up on the web as well, my concerns about my picture being out there are irrelevant. Fine. I just like the cartoon image. I see it as being kind of like my "logo" for my personal brand.
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  Ha. Fair enough. There's always Twitter for finding each other at
  conferences anyway, assuming it's up :-)
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  conniecrosby

  10 months ago

  Okay, okay, I have switched mine back. It was just a bit of fun and--for most people--only temporary. It was an interesting experiment really and did reveal to us the reasons for having the photos or other avatars and being consistent.
  
  This is precisely why I begged LinkedIn for a long time to allow us to post our photos, because you meet someone at a conference or an important new business contact, and need both the face and the name to help remember them.
  
  I quite like what Chris Brogan does--he often takes a new photo that day and posts it, so we can see how he is looking that particular day. It still looks like him and he is recognizable. I also reserve the right to periodically change my avatar for specific purposes--such as when I recently dramaticaly changed my hair and no longer looked like my photo, or when I did the "Blue Elvis" series of tweets on Twitter over a year ago.
  
  It is interesting to see how important this has become.
  
  Cheers,
  Connie
  
  P.S. I have this (different) avatar in the comments because Discus won't let me use my other avatar claiming it is too big a file. I have to figure out how to resize my avatar so I can change it! I'll be honest--it bugs me that I am still using the Twitter fail robot here. :-P
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  You're totally right Connie. Yes, Chris is an exception in the case. Let's
  just hope he refrains from this again: http://twitter.com/YankChrisBrogan:-)
  
  Cheers.
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  Craig Ritchie

  10 months ago

  Agreed. I look for key people's twitters based on their icons. I can't imagine the majority of people do it any other way. Do it on Facebook, sure, but with hundreds of posts in many different channels to follow, I want to be able to find YOU, whoever you are. Not the trendy what-would-happen-if manga or simpsons temporary avatar. Great post Dave.
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  Dave Delaney

  10 months ago

  Thanks a million Chris. I appreciate the comment (and kind words).
  This gets really tough when you're following hundreds of people. I've
  actually just passed 1,000, so if you change your avatar I may even miss
  your tweet.
  
  Cheers
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  Rodney McCarthy

  10 months ago

  Great post Dave!
  
  Good tip about the screenshot as well.
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  Christian

  10 months ago

  Dave, this helps explain why I saw so many of these in the Nashvillosphere. Thanks! Here is a wall of about 20 Nashville area avatars on Twitter using Manga:
  
  http://www.nashvilleistalking.com/node/61664
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  BusbyTest

  6 months ago

  Thanks for this tip!!!
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  investment services

  5 months ago

  Thats going to lead to loads of spam email isn't it - thanks for this useful post
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  pat testing companies

  5 months ago

  Cool - I really should translate terms into English more often - thats a really good tip
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  saville row tailors

  5 months ago

  It doesn't really bother me as you can never trust a photo anyway as it may well not even be the person it claims to be
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  Learning Selling

  4 months ago

  thanks for this!
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  VigRX Plus

  4 months ago

  thanks for sharing this ^^
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  pamabbazia

  3 months ago

  Thanks for the tip about using a fake e-mail.
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  PDFoxy

  2 months ago

  Yes it is true if my friends changed faces every day, it would get confusing for me
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