Topic: What's in an avatar?

[Flaxen Hegemony]

Strange topic, but I'm bored on a Sunday and in a talkative mood.

How much does a Coastgab user's avatar affect the way you read their posts?  While reading online forums (not just Coastgab), I sometimes fall into the trap of making minor judgments about someone based on their avatar.  For example, avatars such as Fabucat's or Fry's Girl's don't influence me too much, whereas onan's avatar from The Big Lebowski clearly conveys an emotion.  He's fairly laid back most of the time anyway, but if you just started reading him, his avatar may make you expect him to be so.  Perhaps that is why he chose it.  Same thing with The General.  He's humorous as often as he is serious, but there's an old school formality you might expect from his text based on his avatar.

Then again, I could have my head firmly ensconced in my posterior, as usual.  Applying this to myself, you people would imagine my posts written by a lizard chick from the 80s.

What made you choose your avatar?  Was it a quick decision or did you want to convey something to us about your personality?

[EastCoastLady]

Strange topic, but I'm bored on a Sunday and in a talkative mood.

Interesting topic!

How much does a Coastgab user's avatar affect the way you read their posts?

Avatars do not sway me one way or another. Most likely because I didn't spend time selecting mine / the tag - basic association with the common phrase "a cat has nine lives" and the concept of reincarnation.   

Your turn: What made you choose your avatar?  Was it a quick decision or did you want to convey something to us about your personality?

[stevesh]

 I sometimes fall into the trap of making minor judgments about someone based on their avatar. 

I do the same, and it really throws me when someone who has been posting for a long time changes his/her avatar, for some reason.

I chose mine because it was an especially creepy image of an amazing creepy guy.

[Eddie Coyle]

 

      My avatar is of a rapidly aging,doomed and defeated drunk who is growing increasingly isolated.

        Draw your own conclusions.

[The General]

...Same thing with The General.  He's humorous as often as he is serious, but there's an old school formality you might expect from his text based on his avatar...

Yes, thanks. 
I initially chose it for other reasons, but the image of that scowling General has really grown on me and he looks exactly how I feel sometimes.  He looks serious as hell, but there's something really really funny about him too.  He is an image from a video game.   Initially, it was a reference to Gen Johnson Jamison of Phil Hendrie's Art Bell spoofs.  I've always had the same avatar.

[Flaxen Hegemony]

Your turn: What made you choose your avatar?  Was it a quick decision or did you want to convey something to us about your personality?

I was a fan of the old V show from the 80s, but also just liked the red/black composition of the photo of Diana against the Visitor emblem in the background.  It doesn't reflect anything about me, or at least not consciously.  Nor does my username.  Honestly, I just like the word "hegemony" and thought "flaxen" sounded good with it - had a nice cadence and a cool "x" in it.  I lurked here at Coastgab for about a year before finally joining, and when I did, just put the pic/name together in about 30 seconds.  

I'm now wondering what I would choose if I DID want to convey something about me, or something that meant something to me (not that avatars have to, of course).  If I had to do it this second, it would be a still frame from the final scene of "Five Easy Pieces", after Jack Nicholson gets in the 18 wheeler and it slowly pulls away.  I love that scene, and the movie.

[Flaxen Hegemony]

       My avatar is of a rapidly aging,doomed and defeated drunk who is growing increasingly isolated.

        Draw your own conclusions.

Apologies for omitting you from my original list, Eddie, as I think your avatar matches your tone better than anyone else.  I can just imagine this guy at the bar, worldly in his ways, adding a healthy dose of cynicism to the stories he tells to his buddies.  Your avatar doesn't look like he's quite given up on people, but knows through experience that others disappoint us more often than the opposite.   Great choice of pic.

[General Johnson Jameson]

I chose mine so everyone could see the milder, lighter side of Richard C Hoagland. And Phil Hendrie too of course 

[Eddie Coyle]

Apologies for omitting you from my original list, Eddie, as I think your avatar matches your tone better than anyone else.  I can just imagine this guy at the bar, worldly in his ways, adding a healthy dose of cynicism to the stories he tells to his buddies.  Your avatar doesn't look like he's quite given up on people, but knows through experience that others disappoint us more often than the opposite.   Great choice of pic.

        Thanks...My screen name and avatar are from the 1973 film with Robert Mitchum. It's near and dear to Mick ne'er do wells from South Boston like myself. And you nailed it...that bar scene "Eddie" is realizing that he's blown it, he trusted somebody he shouldn't have(A Fed) and is about to pay the price for it(though he has no idea just how soon that will be).

     

[Treading Water]

Ahhh, I love me some Bobby Mitchum.  Good choice, Eddie.   

My avatar represents the broken dreams of my life thrown against the train tracks in a fit of ... oh, wait---My daughter snapped this picture on her way home from work one day and I thought it was cool. So she put it on my computer.   

[Flaxen Hegemony]

Ahhh, I love me some Bobby Mitchum.  Good choice, Eddie.   

My avatar represents the broken dreams of my life thrown against the train tracks in a fit of ... oh, wait---My daughter snapped this picture on her way home from work one day and I thought it was cool. So she put it on my computer.   

What IS your avatar, Treading?  Based on your description, it sounds like I had the scale entirely wrong.  Whenever I glance at it quickly, it looks like a cargo spill of some sort, like a freighter near a drydock.  Even now that I see the background is a train track, I have no idea what that object is.

[Treading Water]

What IS your avatar, Treading?  Based on your description, it sounds like I had the scale entirely wrong.  Whenever I glance at it quickly, it looks like a cargo spill of some sort, like a freighter near a drydock.  Even now that I see the background is a train track, I have no idea what that object is.

It's an old, broken typewriter thrown onto a traintrack. 
We used to use them before we had computers.   Snark, snark, snark. 

[Eddie Coyle]

It's an old, broken typewriter thrown onto a traintrack. 
We used to use them before we had computers.   Snark, snark, snark. 

    As a Luddite, I find your avatar to be a wonderful tableau...excellent.

    A Luddite who is using a computer,BTW...ah, cognitive dissonance. 

[Flaxen Hegemony]

It's an old, broken typewriter thrown onto a traintrack. 
We used to use them before we had computers.   Snark, snark, snark. 

Hey, I remember typewriters!  I'm no spring chicken, you know.   I think the whitish color threw me off as well.  To give you an idea how dumb I was, I thought the thing sticking out to the left and the little carriage return bar were cranes or winches of some sort.  What the hell prompted a cargo ship beats me, but maybe the white color led me down the nautical path.  Haha, you don't know how many times I looked at that avatar and thought "just what in the fuck is that?" Problem solved!

[Agent : Orange]

I'm Superman, and I'm fucking drunk.

[Lovely Bones]

I'm Superman, and I'm fucking drunk.

There's nothing like simplicity and concision (unfortunately not virtues of mine).  So here are my thoughts on avatars and FH's question. 

When I first starting lurking here, Ev B was a frequent poster.  (Where has she gone, anyway?)  I always thought her avatar gave her an air of cool loftiness, above the fray.  Onan's gives me a sense of befuddled amusement with the world, fueled by a wisdom that shouldn't be there given a first glance at the portrait.  FH's made me think he was a hot chick until I realized he was a guy.  Paper*Boy's previous avatar was pretty ugly, but now his image has softened.  I guess there's some truth to being impacted by the avatar image, but I'm much more affected by the language, which is why coastgab has some of my favorite posters on the net. 

When I finally decided to join coastgab after lurking for so long, I didn't want to have that generic avatar Michael assigns if we don't pick our own, and it took me about a minute to find a photo that hung in our basement when I was a kid--a woman looking in vanity mirror, reflected back on herself, so that from far away the photo looks like a skull, with the words "All Is Vanity" written below.  That photo fascinated me when I was a kid, so I used it here, at least for the time being.   

[M Knight]

A long time ago the avatars here used to be big enough to actually see and understand them.  Someone complained and now they are too small.  (in my opinion)

[M Knight]

... Ev B was a frequent poster.  (Where has she gone, anyway?) 

She is on a sabbatical searching for Big Foot at Mount Greylock mountain in Massachusetts.  She is starting a new web site to chronicle her quest at greylockmonster.com  Stay tuned.

[Avi]

You know I always lack for profundity; I just wanted everyone to meet my pets and new kitty!

[aldousburbank]

After wandering through a few avatar styles I decided that the alive but stunned look of someone who's been through some shit and can take some more, but not willingly, suits my non-virtual persona just fine.  BTW, I am definitely influenced by others avatars in terms of expectations.  I mean, does anybody remember Lena?

[Agent : Orange]

I mean, does anybody remember Lena?

The experiment went horrifically wrong and she came back as Alejandro.

[The General]

The experiment went horrifically wrong and she came back as Alejandro.

Oh my god I think you are right. 
Call the cyber police, have them back trace it.

[Michael Vandeven]

Call the cyber police, have them back trace it.

(EXTENDED REMIX) Because I Back-Traced It (You dun goofed up)

[Michael Vandeven]

that guy died, by the way.


http://boingboing.net/2011/08/16/gene-leonhardt-you-dun-goofed-dad-dead-at-53.html

[The General]

that guy died, by the way.


http://boingboing.net/2011/08/16/gene-leonhardt-you-dun-goofed-dad-dead-at-53.html

Oh that's sad.
Consequences will never be the same.

[Frys Girl]

that guy died, by the way.


http://boingboing.net/2011/08/16/gene-leonhardt-you-dun-goofed-dad-dead-at-53.html

The sheriff of heaven's Internet. What was the story about this guy and his daughter lol. If I had a child, she would not be allowed to post videos on youtube. There are so many creeps. It's seriously not safe.

[Agent : Orange]

The sheriff of heaven's Internet. What was the story about this guy and his daughter lol. If I had a child, she would not be allowed to post videos on youtube. There are so many creeps. It's seriously not safe.

I know quite a few people that let their young kids mess around on facebook and youtube, and this has always made me nervous. You're right, it's not safe at all.

In general it seems like we are more willing and ready to naively accept new technology into our day to day lives, and I think we become quite reliant on new devices that seem to simplify our daily lives more quickly than ever before. While this is advantageous for some tasks, many of these technologies often complicate other areas of life in unforeseen ways.

For that matter, why do kids under 15 need ipods and ipads anyway?

[b_dubb]

my avatar: the classic Loch Ness Monster pic.  which is a fake.  but i choose this partly because folks sometimes refer to me as the Brockness Monster.  but mostly because i'm a mythic beast. and a fraud

happy new year!!! *** cheers ***

[b_dubb]

(EXTENDED REMIX) Because I Back-Traced It (You dun goofed up)

wow that is sad scary and pathetic all at the same time.  nice remix


that young lady needs to stay away from the internetz if she's that emotional

[Harmness]

To be fair, girls her age are not exactly known for their emotional stability.