So I’m thinking of changing the “avatar” image I use across all my blogs and social networks.
In truth, I quite like the current image I have been using (pictured on right), because I’m not really a big fan of most of the pictures of me that are out there. But with this particular one I like the profile… I’m almost smiling… and the purple and pink background is distinctive. My image can easily be found in a batch of other images. I’m also looking to the right, which is again just different from so many of the other images out there.
This image has worked well for me as I’ve used it across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, all my various blogs, my Gravatar, and basically every other social network I’m in (and I’m in a lot as part of my job). Given that “Dan York” is a rather generic name in English, and that there are a good number of other “Dan Yorks” out there, I’ve tried to use one image everywhere so that when people see my account on some service, they have a very easy visual clue that it is, in fact, the Dan York they know. It’s part of my online identity… a bit of personal branding, etc.
However, there’s a fundamental problem with the image – I only have it in low resolution.
And in fact, very low resolution. For all the many positive comments I’ve received about that particular image, the truth is that it is simply a screen capture of a random frame in a video interview that Jeff Pulver did with me back at Fall VON in October 2007. That’s it. A screen capture of a web video. No pro photographers. Nothing like that.
The problem is that when conferences ask me for a “headshot”, in my ideal world I’d like to give them the same shot that I have on my website and social networks… but I can’t give them this one. So I need a new image for which I also have a higher resolution image.
I’ve thought of going to a local photographer for a shoot… and I may still do that, but as I wrote about over on a Voxeo blog, I was fortunate to have some great shots taken of me out at eComm by photographer Duncan Davidson (click any of the images to jump to his site – you can then click between the images on his site):
(And do check out the rest of the eComm 2009 image gallery – I’m quite impressed by Duncan Davidson’s work.)
As Duncan has very kindly given speakers permission to use them for headshots, blogs, etc., I’m now toying with using a cropped version of one of those shots. Something like maybe one of these:
I’m thinking maybe the last one… mostly because it’s off-center a bit. What do you think?
All of this got me thinking and wondering these thoughts:
- What do you like in an avatar shot?
- What made you choose the one that you are using now?
- Do you like close-up images or farther away?
- Do you like just the person in them or with other people/kids/significant-others/animals?
- Serious? Funny? Muted backgrounds? Distinct backgrounds? Posed? Casual?
(Or are you perhaps not the over-analyzing, over-thinking type that I am and just put up random shots and change them around all the time?)
There’s no right answer, of course… in this world of social media we all get to choose this part of our online identity… and that persona can of course change and morph over time as we ourselves do. Still, I find it interesting to think about – why do we choose the images we do?
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Most Avatars are pretty boring and like hearing ourselves on answering machines (telecom analogy for you), we probably all hate our own.
Yours is very distinctive and you have done a very good job of building an online brand within your profession.
In your case, I would have a professional (maybe not a photographer, but photo shopper) transform a similar high res picture into a similar avatar with the two colors. Like Pepsi modifies their logo, but not dramatically.
Sometimes when people change their Avatar, I lose them completely. Esp on Twitter – there are some that I follow closely, but many I slowly build a relationship with. A change of the avatar has been known to force a reset on that staircase.
I want to change mine, but for that same reason I don’t. I need to create a new avatar that is close enough to the present one that I don’t lose anyone in the transition. That is too much work. But no one asks me for headshots. In your case, do it.
I don’t like your ecomm shots. Of course, you are lovely in them, but they are too different. No need to change your brand that dramatically.
Why do you feel the need to moderate comments?
Worse case someone writes something offensive – “telecom is for jerks” – so what? Delete it later.
Dave,
Thanks for your comments. On the moderation issue, I noted in my last post that TypePad is apparently undergoing some type of problem with comment spam:
/2009/03/24/moving-to-comment-moderation-due-to-typepad-not-protecting-against-comment-spam/
As soon as they can fix that and I stop getting the daily *flood* of comment spam, I will very definitely turn OFF comment moderation. I don’t like having moderation on my blogs as, to me, it stifles the real-time aspect of the ongoing conversations.
And yes, your comment speaks directly to my reluctance in changing my avatar image. You’re right that in scanning through, for instance, long lists of tweets, you grow to know people’s avatars and can easily find people’s tweets. I have come to know the images associated with certain friends or people whose content I usually find particularly helpful. Those may be the ones that I pay closer attention to as the river of tweets flows by. So it *is*, to me, a fairly big deal to change the image.
What you suggest has been my plan to date… go to someone local and get a new headshot in a similar style. It’s just been an issue of actually….. *doing* that! 🙁
Thanks again for the comments,
Dan
P.S. And yes, your avatar image with the phone booth is certainly distinctive, too.
Dan – It’s so funny that I found this blog post late last night. I’ve been wrestling with this exact predicament (except I just plain don’t like my avatar, high res or low) for the past few days. So yesterday afternoon I started looking at what I thought were the top avatars on twitter and yours was at the top of the list. It is very distinctive and does shine through all of the rest. So I started taking shots with the Photo Booth application on my Mac with the goal of producing a shot of comparable quality to yours. In the end I like how mine turned out, but it’s good to see that I’m not the only one sweating the small stuff…
Zach – That IS pretty funny and thanks for your kind words about my current avatar. Yes, I have found that it *is* distinctive and so I do hesitate to change it. Thanks.
It’s interesting what Dave says: yes in a way the existing avatar has a brand value now. It’s a bit like the Obama “HOPE” badges, except of course that your shot from that interview predates the Obama badge!
The Duncan Davidson pictures are excellent, but if asked I would go for number 1. I think having a zoom-in full face is really essential for the Internet. A lot of sites squeeze the pictures down (extreme case – Twitter) and so you want to avoid empty space in the frame even if picture 4 is better composed. For people that have not yet met you in person it is often difficult to recognise you just from one 2D photograph, so I believe it’s important to have as much facial information as possible.