What Does an Avatar Say to You?

To me, the image that a person uses tells me a lot about them. I used a picture of myself so that no one would assume how I was choosong to represent myself. I am who I am and I don't want to hide behind anything.

I think you are hiding behind your trees, and if I am not mistaken, this is not first avatar that you use...:) I think that my avatar is very easy to see and understand... If people don't use their own image, usually they use an image of things or ideas important for them....

mmm..i agree to an extent an avatar does influence my thoughts about a person but to be honest it's mainly by her/his post that i form an image of her/him and really not actually a physical form or something like that but only a faint image!:) you must have a good imagination power to think even about the voice of the person or his/her accent!:D now naturally i m curious what form you may be having on your mind about me!;)

Hi, For me it means a lot, since avatars and nicknames are the only things you see/feel about the person of course the discussions and responses also tell a lot. Still if I wish to know what kind of person started the discussion or responded to one, I really have to look at the avatar.. Thanks for the nice topic.

Hello 2wicelot!:-) Sometimes, I do hear voices crossing my mind, especially when I feel something meaningful and coming from heart. Avatars do make a first impression on my mind and there are valid logical reasons behind it. Whenever we do something, we do on purpose, at least most of the time. Selection of Avatar is one such thing. It tells about personality, something one cares for, something one means or even something one hates or dislikes. Some people use it ironically which still tells something about a personality and how he/she relates to that Avatar, and I find this irony in the words people write. My reading of people here isn't limited to Avatars as there purpose (positive, negative, humiliation etc) of using it can't be known just by simply seeing it. For that I study the discussions that one starts, responds and comments to. I also see profiles and what those people have in their profiles. In totality it gives me a better picture of a personality and helps me respond/communicate to them in a way they can understand.

I feel the same way. When I see an Avatar I start thinking about other discussions I have had with this person, and I try to visualize them at the time I am reading there post...The avatar tell us what is important in that persons life...This is what makes us all unique..

If a person uses his real photo definitely we could judge lots of him from his appearance. If he uses other object then it must have some meanings associated with it. Say he picks a lovely baby it could be sure that he loves children and family life. If he chooses a weird or scary avatar I might consider him to be unusual or playful lol... Before we get to know a person it is human nature to read him from his physical appearance especially from his face. When I glance through the discussions the respective avatars do really influence my thoughts on the persons as well as the user names if we do not visit their profiles. Anyhow, when I get to know a friend well after some interactions then his avator will soon become less significant as in my first impression of him.

I don't pay much attention to the avatars. Some men use pictures of women as their avatar and that would lead some to think they were talking to a female and not a male. Even though you may get a good impression from mine. I do use a laptop and the questioning look on the beavers face tells you I am a person who searches the net for everything. LOL

An avatar can say so much about a person. There are so many people on here now that I tend to recognise people from their avatars. I often wonder what people look like, how they speak, etc., but I must admit there are times when I feel that some of the avatars on here are really quite misleading :-)

I know I do the same, and at one stage my friends and I went through a stage where we all changed our Avatars, and it was quite a 'shock' I think a person's Avatar can tell, a lot about your personality, consciously or subconsciously. I won't change mine in the near future, it is almost as important as a book cover!

Yes it does especially if there is an actual picture of the person, I feel I can see the person I am talking to, On the ones with no photograph I try to imagine, although I know I am no where close. I can get a feel of them from the picture they choose to use. It is actually fun for me.

I hope I don't upset a lot of people with my response to this but I do make a judgement about people from their avatar when they have a photo on it which is obviously of a film star. I have seen many people with avatar pics of famous Bollywood or Hollywood stars and I wonder "Who do they think they're fooling?" Not everyone would know from looking at an avatar pic of say a Bollywood star that the person is a celebrity and they might assume that it's a real pic of the myLot member and they could also respond to their discussions just because they think the person is good looking from their fake avatar pic. If I were to use a photo on my avatar it would be my own photo and not of a celebrity. I don't have any issues with any other type of avatar pic, if you want to have a cute kitten or puppy or cartoon character or a mountain or a glass of milk even, then it's all good - I don't make any judgements about those kind of avatars at all :)

I have come to recognize mt friends from their avtar, and have formed a tentative picture of them,I try to get a clue about their personality from their avtars

Not really - don't take much notice of it.

Hey 2l, The avatar (& profile info) helps me in those ways if it's a pic of the person but if it's a {other} pic then it just gives me a sense of that person interests. +'s 2 U :D

Wow-- I better change mine then- I don't want you reading mine like a cat- : ) I've been meaning to change it- Nope- I look at the avatar and then laugh- I have to admit that a nice avatar draws me to the discussion-

No, it doesn't affect me at all. An avatar is just a common picture that has been simply chosen to put right there in your primary profile. What I do care is the real picture of the person behind it.

Some avatars tell something about the person, some say nothing at all and some are misleading which I guess also tells us something about the person. Mine has meaning to me, but there are probably not that many people here who would know what that is. Sometimes I look at the profile and sometimes I don't. Mainly I go by the discussions and it may take several before I really start to remember someone or form an image of them.

I usually see the avatar of the person who start discussion ^^ . I think I can know his passion from his avatar. I'm glad to find someone who have the same passion with me, so avatar is the 1st thing that is impressionnate for me. an avatar can show your character too ^^