Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem

December 10, 2010 By 4 Comments

Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem Social Design

Avatar, icon, logo, gravatar, mii, identity, wee, insignia, emblem

Whatever you wish to call it, the way you represent yourself graphically online is becoming increasingly important and you can find yourself asking the following questions:

  • How do you successfully express yourself in 100×100 pixels?
  • Do you ensure that you use the same avatar across all platforms?
  • Do you want to be instantly recognised when moving between platforms?
  • Do you constantly re-invent your avatar depending on your mood or changing interests?

Personally I think it would be great if all platforms used Gravatar – a service that links your email address to an avatar and can be used to decided what image to display depending on the platform and it’s rating. One change of your Gravatar would trickle through the networks updating every site without you having to log on to each one and upload.

One of my early experiences with online avatars was with forums – specifically a Mini based forum I provided. I would regularly be asked to either make an animated image or host an image that would be used to represent it’s user. I find it amazing how everyone wanted a fair amount of anonymity with their avatars and screen names back then – where today, many people are using photographs of themselves and their real names (if not a business, group or brand account).

Looking back through my archives, I’ve managed to dig out a few of the old style avatars from the Mini forum …

Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem Social Design

Do you use a photo of yourself or a icon to represent your online identity?

Some responses:

Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem Social Design (@unclewilco):
12/12/2010 20:39
@richardmackney had my avatar for a few years originally from @bankscartoons but Iam starting to look like it more and more and more

 

Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem Social Design (@johnhood):
12/12/2010 15:47
@richardmackney Started using the current (and only) avatar since 2006 across all social media spaces. Avatar icon logo gravatar mii identity wee insignia emblem Social Design

 

Related posts

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: ,
About Richard Mackney

Sharer of thoughts and Photography from an iPhone while touring the UK in a Caravan and drinking Beer. Co-creator of @fishmedia and two small fry.

  • Richard Arblaster

    I tend to use a photo of myself.

  • Documentally

    I created my avatar around 2005 to hide behind and now feel i’m stuck with it. It’s not that I don’t like it. I love it, but I know it gives some people the wrong impression. Or does it.. ;)

  • Faint Dreams

    I’ve been using this avatar for around the past 3 – 4 years. It’s a self portrait I particularly like which gives some indication of what I look like without showing my actual face. I am paranoid enough to not want ‘full disclosure’ on the icon I use as my most frequent visual cue :)

  • Craig Thornton

    A global acceptance of Gravatar would be a welcome move indeed. I tend to use the same photo across all platforms / services, only changing it when I eventually get bored of the current one or feel it’s time for a refresh to keep it current (I have recently been thinking of creating something a little more, well, creative).