The Influence of Avatars

yup. avatars. names. everything gets my attention. it does give a very superfluous idea about someone. hardly accurate, but you start relating to the person with his image. right

No that never influence me because I read the topic and answer before I look at the avatar. I try to remember as many as I can because I usually forget names.

I believe avatars (or the lack of one) say a lot about a person. Most people when they select one - looks for something they like first of all, so it must be something that finds a resonance in themselves. Then they MAYBE think about what it will say to others. It is like your name - it is firstly important to you. Avatars can say a lot like - are you old or young, modern and outgoing or a little conservative. Funny and fun loving or serious. Open or misterious (no avatar) But although it can give a lot of tips about the person, the judgement I think is in the topic and response. What a person have to say (if someone listens) weights a lot more than what a person ('s avatar) looks like.

SURELY AVATAR HAS TO A CERTAIN level influence in attracting you to answering it.We all have attraction to colours,thats exactly which this category falls under..ok.Not that we read only discussions having attractive avatar.meaningful headline does attract more.more than avatar this has more impact to make.i get to choose it based on headline most of the time.

Yup, avatars should symbolize users here. But i haven't th0ught of the tone or the mood of its owner. It's just through the way he delivers his or her opinion regarding a certain topic where he or she can set the mood of the words written in a reply or post. Avatar represents you in the net, it creates first impressions on you.

I have to assume it has some effect of my judgment of that person, even if it is on a subconscious level. I'm mostly influenced by how they communicate and what they talk about. On the other hand, if the avatar is either insanely clever or ridiculously stupid, then yes, it will influence my opinion of them.

it doesn't influence me.i look for my type of discussions to respond in my lot.avatar is sometimes interesting to watch but i respond to discussions that i like.i agree with you though i think that it is influencing me too .i look through my friends' discussions automatically and read them.

I don't look at people's avatars when I answer a discussion. I only look at the avatar because maybe I want to remember that person, and I know that my visual memory is better. If at a first glimpse, I don't find the avatar abussive or somehow "upsetting" then I have absolutley no problem with it. I only think of it as a "landmark" of some sort that reminds me that I've seen that person before.

Ironically I felt froggy with my cell phone camera tonight after dinner and made myself a new avatar. I look funny when it's all scrunched down like on these pages but it's all good. As for other users I always read the post first and once I'm done, out of habit, I look at the avatar pic but I usually don't have an opinion of the avatars themselves unless I believe it to be a real picture of the user. Even then it's just nice to know what they look like and yes, if I read a question off of the short bus I do tend to give a second glance to the avatar. Oh and I do think it's kinda funny how many Indian men use their work ID pics for these sites. It makes you realize how into their work they are as a culture. I do enjoy illustrated icons. If I see one that catches my eye (not many do on here) I will write a quick comment in a question to compliment it.

Yes I think so. I've tried it before. I pasted a beautiful face of a girl in my avatar and true enough there is an increase of responses from the discussions I posted unlike before when I don't have any pics at all in my avatar. I do believe that people relates effective thru visual representations. Having an avatar specially a beautiful face or handsome face makes you feel like you're really talking to a real person and moreover you are talking to a beautiful person.

uhmmmm.. avatars dont really affect my perception of how the person write here... avatars just helped recognized the discussion they make ...its the avatar i remember not the username. i see some avatars here that doesnt really represent how the user wirte discussion or make responses... looks can be decieving.

People who have other pictures avatars that are not their own, gives me an idea on what they are intersted in. Like yours for example, you look like you like shows that are emotional, but then I looked at your pictures I realized that you look like your avatar. Pretty!

I think it does make a difference u can judge a person by the avatar! Other than that the avatar can be u$ed for remembering the person so according to me it does make a difference!

I'll have to admit since art is a hobby of mine, I do enjoy looking at the avatars. But I do not use the avatars to pick the discussions I respond too. I use the title line to decide if it is something I am interested in answering. I think you can tell a person's interests from their avatar, but I don't think you can really tell a personality.

For me personally I dont care what peoples avatars look like. Most of the time I am looking at the discussion topics and not so much at there avatars. Just because someone likes a picture of a car in front of a waterfall dosnt mean they are a car junkie, they could just like the waterfall. Look at my avatar just because I chose it dosnt mean i am an evil witch, to me it is an just stating that I am wiccan and proud of it. Yes I could choose another and when I want to I will but for now this is me.

Most of the time I don't even look at the avatarst hat go along with the person who posted. I just look at what they write and I go from there. I totally agree about the reading in tone on the internet. I look forward to that discussion when you start it.

I also recognize members here by avatar not by user name, and actually some on my friends list confuse me a lot when they change their avatar constantly .. And yes avatars does effect me to a degree because people usually use avatars that represent their personality in a way .. Just yesterday I saw a discussion by someone using "the finger" as an avatar and I didn't respond to it .. If someone is telling me to F@#$ off in his avatar why he is expecting me to post in his discussion? he may still not be a bad or abusive person and just thought it's "cool" but this is how I felt and I just moved on although I'm not the person who would make a fuss about "obscenity" I just think things and words should be used in their proper place.

Yeah at some way avatars influence me in looking at the person. If the person uses a avatar related to online games, for sure that person is in love with online games. For those who use their pets as avatars, maybe they are pet lovers.

Yes it does, which is one of the reasons for my avatar. The intention is to emphasize art and creativity, as well as being instantly recognizable. Visual images are high impact, and are retained in the subliminal memory. I think there's some pretty intensive marketing theory about images, and how they can be used as triggers for reactions. I find that the blank avatars are a bit of a turn off. Every so often a good one shows up, and it definitely attracts attention.

I dont think avatars really influence anyone its really the discussions that a person post and how the person comment is what really influences. Its only that the avatar is the first thing seen by other members, but i dont think it really influences.