Influence of Avatars and Images: are you affected?

This is quite an entertaining thread. Anyone who watches Futurama should understand my avatar. Bender is awesome.

Definitely reflects some personality traits of mine minus the theft. Bender also has a clear conscious as do I.


[edit on 27-10-2009 by Anonymous Avatar]

This is awsome!
I find myself, "evan before this thread" letting the posters avatar do the talking.
ie...Bender just spoke to me
chembreather... in my mind sounds like a speach programmed weather station broadcast.
Phage...well that actor just speaks tons
Scooby ..... cracks me up

So yes I believe avatars have an influence on me, I just have a hard time taking Snoopy seriously, or Scooby, when its a serious conversation, and I hear it in Scoobies voice.....for a reply ...

Originally posted by curiousaboutsky
if i don't have one, what does that reveal about me, i wonder?

Avatars and images are used for a variety of reasons and the lack thereof, may not suggest anything about the person, per se. What it *might* suggest is that other users may attach less significance to the person without an avatar... assuming that it's true that people indeed, seek to familiarize and attach meaning to the anonymity of the person behind a post. I don't know.

I do know that I tend to more likely *forget* who a poster is, without an avatar or image attached to them. I am less likely to notice a name, than a picture and unless I interact often with said person, I will not necessarily recognize them at a later date. The visual, for me, is key. It's like that in real life as well. I will more likely remember a face than a name.

In a forum like ATS, it may not mean that the quality of the post is deemed less value for those without avs./img. because as a community, it's the information that is valued for the most part... though the study did suggest that posters using traditional female/male-like avatars *may* be held to a higher standard...

Avatars or lack thereof may also make a big difference for areas such as (online games) where *I assume* that the person is recognized as a person and not a post (I'm not a "gamer") so could be wrong on this thought.

Study



[edit on 27-10-2009 by LadySkadi]

reply to post by LadySkadi


Thank you.

BTW, this is her.
(Not that she looks very much like your avatar in that particular picture - or in any pictures I've seen on the internet.
But the similarity really is uncanny.)

There are two that affect me here: 1 is plucky's (megan fox). It kills me every time. I lose concentration.
The other is a big contributor here. I don't know his alias off-hand. Basically, his avatar looks like an "Igor" type (from a Frankenstein movie). The eye move. It doesn't bother me anymore but it used to break my concentration in a disturbing way for some reason.

Mine looks cool and pretty much says you should question authority and look death in the eye. To me it also shows confidence. I also like cool colour combinations too.

I dont have one. Whats that say?

reply to post by daggyz


Here is my personal speculation, based on the study... don't really have an exact answer...

Originally posted by curiousaboutsky
if i don't have one, what does that reveal about me, i wonder?

Avatars and images are used for a variety of reasons and the lack thereof, may not suggest anything about the person, per se. What it *might* suggest is that other users may attach less significance to the person without an avatar... assuming that it's true that people indeed, seek to familiarize and attach meaning to the anonymity of the person behind a post. I don't know.

I do know that I tend to more likely *forget* who a poster is, without an avatar or image attached to them. I am less likely to notice a name, than a picture and unless I interact often with said person, I will not necessarily recognize them at a later date. The visual, for me, is key. It's like that in real life as well. I will more likely remember a face than a name.

In a forum like ATS, it may not mean that the quality of the post is deemed less value for those without avs./img. because as a community, it's the information that is valued for the most part... though the study did suggest that posters using traditional female/male-like avatars *may* be held to a higher standard...

Avatars or lack thereof may also make a big difference for areas such as (online games) where *I assume* that the person is recognized as a person and not a post (I'm not a "gamer") so could be wrong on this thought.

Study

[edit on 27-10-2009 by LadySkadi]

I definitely notice avatars. Whilst flicking through a topic I find myself stopping on a quote only because I recognise the user/avatar.

It took a long (too long) while for me to choose my avatar. It definitely represents me in every sense, to the point where I now think of myself as such. For me it is really, really personal and I don't think I'd ever change it much though I do admire some that change theirs without losing their "personality" - like SDog.

What a brilliant theory. I've believed much the same for some time now. I believe that people express themselves through their outward appearance, be it their clothing or personal grooming or what-have-you. So tell me then, I am curious to know, how does my avatar make you feel? What might does it tell you about me? I picked it because I feel it symbolizes my highest ideal. I am a lot younger than most of you are, so I still don't know myself all that well yet and I often wonder how others perceive me.

[edit on 29-10-2009 by Syrus Magistus]

HMMM Id just like to find out HOW to add an avitar...

reply to post by Syrus Magistus


To me, it suggest a universal seeking of knowledge...

Am I close?



[edit on 31-10-2009 by LadySkadi]

dbl

[edit on 31-10-2009 by LadySkadi]

As SPOCK would say, judging another over their words or image is emotional, illogical and human.

My avatar is a cropped picture of one of my skull rings and it isn't really meant to say much, if anything at all. I like skulls, and various other things that are generally perceived as evil, dark, etc. I just like the way it looks.

I usually remember someone by their avatar before I remember their name too, I guess it's the same as when you remember someone who wore distinctive clothing before you would remember joe average.

reply to post by LadySkadi


Very much so. Thank you.

Originally posted by GENERAL EYES
Big Brother loves me.

I like to think it sums up my day to day since the "re-education" rather nicely.

Re-Education? What an interesting statement from someone of shared history...

My avatar was chosen to be with a grim reaper type fellow but the artist, ImAMarty, came up with something a bit off kilter...which I thought was genius.

It's a brain in the lower left corner and a scythe next to it...

reply to post by LadySkadi

Influence of Avatars and Images: are you affected?

Personally, I have problems keeping the same av for more than a few days. Whether that is because I am myself unstable (sinister laugh) or just my enjoyment making avatars... is anyone's guess.

But for others, admittedly, I probably do make some subconscious but minor judgments on the person behind the picture. Nothing serious, mind you... I do so hate stereotypes and easy paths to difficult questions. But these things do often represent the person behind them in some way.

I think it a worthy endeavor to delve them for whatever might be there.

Not sure if this bit got overlooked, but it is also quite interesting.
From the same study...

Androgyny and Its Relationship to Perceptions of Anthropomorphism Sex category is another of the most important characteristics that people want to know about others in an encounter.

As with anthropomorphism, little is known about how the attribution of sex category influences perception in graphical virtual worlds. Here, we use the term sex categorization instead of biological sex because we refer to the attribution of the category that would influence person perception when the natural physical body is not visible, rather than the actual biological sex of the individual being perceived. Sex categorization is achieved through the application of socially defined criteria, where one has been determined as belonging to one of the two sex categories, male or female (West & Zimmerman, 1991). In this process, people use gender stereotypes to make a determination as to which category a person, or avatar, belongs in.

Contrary to early predictions that people would not make attributions of sex category in computer-mediated interactions, it seems that in some contexts sex attributions are still made, and questions about sex category are among the first asked in social interactions.

almost two-thirds of participants assigned their partners to a sex category in a text based, task-oriented interaction (though they were not necessarily accurate). Further, sex role stereotypes have been shown to apply in some online contexts. The influence of the avatar or its visual characteristics on the sex categorization process remains unclear, however.

How interesting. I wonder how many people find themselves assigning gender to a poster? I know that I sometimes find myself assigning a perceived gender to posters, based off of avatar design and writing style...
Anyone else?

*re-post from a few pages back*

Study

PDF version

[edit on 3-11-2009 by LadySkadi]

reply to post by LadySkadi

How interesting. I wonder how many people find themselves assigning gender to a poster? I know that I sometimes find myself assigning a perceived gender to posters, based off of avatar design and writing style...

Never... not from avatars anyway.

Males and Females tend to have fairly easily distinguishable writing styles. We tend to write similarly to how we speak. The male/female divide in communication is pretty well documented. Not in each and every case, mind you... but generally.



[edit on 3-11-2009 by redoubt]