Does what it looks like have an effect on your impression?

Hi..you made a good point there. My view is profile pictures must be selected in such a way that it can relate to you.It does not matter if others understand you just my looking at the image...it's your posts and replies that value for others to understand you.For Ex.,people who know me know why i put this as my avatar.Anyways, no one can control or force others to use the avatar of their choice..

Not all profile pictures affect my impression towards other users. But yes if certain someone has a very naked profile picture I do freak out a little. But I do not believe that it speaks of how they are. I usually want to accept everyone's friend request here. Sometimes I do investigate a person just to know if he or she is the extremist type. I saw a few users here who attack others' religions and even race. I do not like the idea of being their friends because of the discomfort I experience from their opinions scattered all around the site.

Yes, I must confess to allowing the avatar to affect my overall impression to some degree. I do know better and fully realise that it is not really that significant, but I suppose that it is human nature to behave that way. It would not affect my interest in the discussion in any way, but a decent avatar gives the impression of someone who is prepared to make an effort. I tend to feel that the default picture looks disappointing, despite knowing that many members have the default avatar and yet produce worthwhile discussions and responses. It seems rather odd that it should matter to us because the avatar may not truly reflect the person concerned, after all we can use any avatar that we wish.

I don't feel the need to judge anyone. In the course of my interaction I would look for those where I would feel comfortable.. The avatar will never tell us how good or bad the user is in terms of their participation.

Yes, we have the same feeling. I also wonder what are the looks of our fellow mylotters. Me myself have an avatar with my own face. lol. I think better if all of us will display our own photos as an avatar so that we can reflect their comments based on their looks. But in terms of commenting on their started discussion, I do not consider it as long as I can relate with their discussions. I am not after their avatars. I am just curious what they look like.

No, I don't read profiles actually. So that it I will not have any biases about the person or her/his discussion. No, it will not be fair the person to be judged on the avatars or profiles she has. I don't like to comment to some discussions that I don't know, or sometimes I don't understand. Otherwise if I understood the discussion I will surely participate.

I prefer to use the wolf in my avatar, I don't like the real pic of me up I have had in the past some nasty comments made when I have put my pic up on the net. I have a lot of good friends on Mylot and it doesn't matter to me at all if they have different avatars or the avatar is not of them, the fact that they are supportive, caring, give me great advice are all that matter to me. Sometimes I will comment on the avatar if it's a cute animal, as this starts up discussions too.

yes, you are right. it is more interesting to have a pic to your profile, but i really never to much let that stop me from responding to their post, if it is interesting.

I do not care on others avatar or picture profile. I really love to have a good response in his discussions.

hi Lovegreen I hate to pigeon hole anyone by any method. as they co ld be wonderful p eople and have not yet realized how to changer their profile. I go by what people write and how they treat other my otters rather than byh profile pictures.I hate judging anyone till I get to know them as there can be all sorts of good reasons for what they have in their profile picture. Me I love to make graphics so my picture is often changing but right now I like the one I have made. I am a perfectionist and find it hard to make the best of something. I love your avatar by the way.

Yes and No.What someones profile picture was wouldn't be the reason for me to or not to respond to a discussion.I choose the discussions I respond to based on how interesting I find the discussion and whether I can give a decent response.Though if I see a users profile pic around a lot on interesting discussions I will remeber it and be more likely to check out a discussion that they have started.This particularly being the case for people that I have added.

It does not affect whether I respond or not but it I do like seeing their pictures instead of the one where they have no image up. Just to see what they like or what they look like. =) But I still respond to them regardless.

when a member has been here regularly for a few years but still don't put a profile pic, to me it's like they still don't feel at home here. but i just shrug it off. it's their choice. if i find their discussion interesting and feel like responding, i still will. we tend to recognize familiar images and go there first. but i also enjoy it when i see people changing their pics like hatley's. some change their pics when there are events in their lives. we also make seasonal changes, right now it's christmas and i giggle when i see the laughing santa of asylum's. few years ago there was one animated avatar with a hen laying eggs and the responders had fun "catching" it, while the discussions-starter was "protecting" it. if i ever see a picture that is offensive to me, i will report it and let admin decide what to do.

I tend to response to the picture that gave me good impression and real, even it is not real he or she. It is just the visual thing, I think. Maybe we do not need to care about this. Find some discussions we are interested in, that's the point. Have a nice day.