Foo - avatars and identity

if i might be serious for a moment [but just for a moment]...

what's all the fuss about avatars? i understand that some people chose to use pictures of themselves, cartoon characters, icons, pictures of gorillas, lena horne [that is lena horne, isn't it?], bikes and whatever to represent themselves. i'm just surprised at how some people take these so seriously as representations or depictions of other users.

i mean, it's one thing to be attached to your own signature image -- like a trademark -- and doubly so when it is actually a photograph of yourself [forgive the bad grammar]. it's another thing to treat the image chosen by another as a convenient short-hand representation as the person.

look at it this way: a picture of me is not me. it is a picture. it has a completely independent meaning. it is no more an accurate representation of me than an icon or a cartoon character. it signifies my post [which is not me], and that serves only to situate it in a narrative of me [which, again, is not me] in the context of the forum. conversely, if i use an image of me as my avatar, that is not me either.

the bottom line is that whatever image i chose, that image is not me. it signifies an instant in my bikeforums narrative.

all of this is to ask: does anyone really take avatars that seriously?

m. velocipedio,
an art deco stick figure on a stylized bike

i just use ones that catch my fancy... and i always change mine

Help I can't get these shades to stop the flashing, and it's driving me crazy!

Truckin, I'm a go'in home, whoa whoa baby back where I belong....

Mine is my late dog (died last Sept. of bloat, she was only 5). Auster was my first, and my life seems incomplete without her. I cry too much if she is on my desktop, so I made her my avatar instead. It's the same on every forum. I guess I will put my new dog up when I can get another one. Probably a JRT that I will be fostering for rescue.

Help I can't get these shades to stop the flashing, and it's driving me crazy!

Truckin, I'm a go'in home, whoa whoa baby back where I belong....
ill fix 'em, what color do you want them

Mine is my late dog (died last Sept. of bloat, she was only 5).
:(

I once lost a cat to a (supposed) heart attack, when he was only two. I had to put my 15yo cat to sleep last summer... he'd been with me thru divorce, moving to three different states, deaths in the family and always greeted me with love when I came home. Sucks to lose a friend.

Pretty much me, stunned expression from the hundreth non sequitor style question of the day, weariing a workshirt, bad hair because I have bad hair, in front of trays of Sturmey parts no one wants.

it's interesting, though: there's an intent in the avatars. shifty chose jerry garcia, lauren chose her dog, the rev chose a particurly flattering picture of himself looking stunned. however, whatever the intent behind those choices, i can [and do] impute a completely unrelated meaning into the avatars.

do you think the avatars we chose informs how we read each others' posts?

<----- (my dog)

I have avatars and signatures turned off. You're all just text to me.

Party pooper!

Party pooper!

That's me!

I have mostly used my avatars to display my taste in music.

<removed by ignore filter>
yeah man, go for the hat-trick of thread deletions! http://www.cripplefight.com/smileys/devil.gif

Or did you get more than two threads deleted tonight and I just missed some?

:D

yeah man, go for the hat-trick of thread deletions! http://www.cripplefight.com/smileys/devil.gif

Or did you get more than two threads deleted tonight and I just missed some?

:D

Yeah, man.. 5 more that you missed. :eek:

I can't believe I'm still allowed to be here.

Mine is of me racing. I my avatar to be something to stand out so people know when ive posted/who i am just from looking at my avatar.

I liked my last one too, it reminded me of my favorite dictator ( alleged that is ), Manuel Antonio Noriega (pineapple face to his close inner circle).
However I got a visit from the Eugene Grateful Dead secret police, and, well I saw it their way. Any day is a good day for a Grateful Dead Concert.

I don't know why I chose mine. I was dicking around in Photoshop one day, making stencils for Bike Rides / High Fives t-shirts/graff, and I decided to make an avatar as well. Just a nice saying, I suppose.

<----- My team

Its me jumping. I change it occasionaly, before it was a pic of elisha cuthbert with a photoshopped santa claus hat on.

i would use my dog on acid... but its to big http://photobucket.com/albums/v698/enjoisk8s89/th_hollyacidsmall.gif

Mine usually shows my state of drinking. I should probably change it back to coffee...

I don't know about you, but that IS me in my Avatar!

<-----It's Depakote. I take so I don't have seizures. AND I TAKE IT PRETTY DARN SERIOUSLY.

I needed my avatar to tell it like it is, so I picked my hero, Samuel L. Jackson.

I needed my avatar to tell it like it is, so I picked my hero, Samuel L. Jackson.
Samuel L Jackson is from here, and I've met at least 10 people who claim they had his old locker when they where at City High School!
Mine is from "Ninja Scroll" and it's a perverted old wandering sage/ninja, just like me!

Mine is of a passed friend of mine Faye, gone too soon and loved forever.

actually, allgoo... the thread is more about you and your apparent inability to see past the avatar. you rake it so seriously. it's like you don't interact with the text, but with the image. i find that interesting. personally, i wonder if you are capable of interacting just with the text. turn avatars off for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v698/enjoisk8s89/th_hollyacidsmall.gif[/QUOTE]

Cats rule. Dogs drool. Actually I like dogs. ;)

Bike stolen: be on the look out for a large yellow bird and a wooly mammoth. any info would be helpful. you can contact me at 1,2,3 sesame st. c/o "Bert"

Seeing how I just sold my Lemond I guess I need to update my Avatar...

<-----It's Depakote. I take so I don't have seizures. AND I TAKE IT PRETTY DARN SERIOUSLY.
How do you do you take it seriously? Like when you swallow it, do you have dramatic music playing or something?
.

Mine is of a passed friend of mine Faye, gone too soon and loved forever.
okay, stupid question... is Faye a ferret? It's hard to tell.

I don't know about you, but that IS me in my Avatar!

Don't aim that specium ray at me! :D



InfoTech guys (& SNL fans) know why I chose mine.

okay, stupid question... is Faye a ferret? It's hard to tell.

No such thing as a stupid question.

Faye was a rat. We rescued her from the 'feeder tank' at the LPS. She had severe head tilt from an inner ear infection which resulted in her walking quite literally in a barrel roll manner. We got her healthy with an anti-biotic regimin. She was one of the most loving and caring creatures I have ever known. She'd know when I was sick and would strongly protest leaving me until I got better.

Mine is plain old me. I thought it might give some idea to those who tread these threads who might be writing.

I've been all over the subject of my avatar a coupla years ago. Its a portrate someone did of me =:)

Don't aim that specium ray at me! :D



InfoTech guys (& SNL fans) know why I chose mine.


MOVE!!!!

I thought it might give some idea to those who tread these threads who might be writing.
an idea of what? i guess what i'm wondering about is how our reading of posts is conditioned by the avatars we choose. if i see dirtjump's and lauren's avatars and i don't like dogs, how is that likely to condition my reaction to their posts? if i use an image of an attractive woman or man, will other users' reactions be conditioned by their sexual orientations and interests? i guess the same can be said for login names, but even gendered login names are connotive more than denotive.

i don't know... i find the whole idea of how we construct and assign identities to others, and how we interact with them interesting. it happens in real life all the time, too. less-so in face-to-face interactions [but it still happens], moreso in telephone conversations. we typically create a mental image of the person we're talking to if we've never met them, and then interact with that image, even if it doesn't have any foundation.

i guess avatars give us the opportunity to control that somewhat, but i can imagine meeting lauren one day and thinking "gee, you don't look like a german shepherd at all..."

does anyone really take avatars that seriously?
Um, you? :eek:

If someone doesn't like dogs then I don't want to talk with them anyway :).

krispistoferson, true. i'm just taking my brain out for a walk and some exercise... and to answer a call of nature.

[yes. i'm a dog person.]

I'm a very visual/graphical person, so I usually identify people by their avatars, generally before even looking at their name. The avatar doesn't shape the person for me, but its still a huge identifier. When regular posters change their avatar, I sometimes get incredibly thrown off, like, "who IS this guy??"

do you think the avatars we chose informs how we read each others' posts?

Definately. I make assumtions, sometimes, based on an avatar. You can sometimes tell a person age/maturity with it :)

Definately. I make assumtions, sometimes, based on an avatar. You can sometimes tell a person age/maturity with it :)

So, can you tell from mine that I am an old-fashioned (old-FASHIONED, dammit, not OLD!) teacher lady who is on my way out the door for a ride through my 100-acre-woods, since it is 66 degrees and not raining and deer season is over? (Instead of wearing the dress in my avatar, however, I have on cycling clothes. :) )

i don't know... i find the whole idea of how we construct and assign identities to others, and how we interact with them interesting. it happens in real life all the time, too. less-so in face-to-face interactions [but it still happens], moreso in telephone conversations. we typically create a mental image of the person we're talking to if we've never met them, and then interact with that image, even if it doesn't have any foundation.

i guess avatars give us the opportunity to control that somewhat, but i can imagine meeting lauren one day and thinking "gee, you don't look like a german shepherd at all..."

I haven't got around to using an avatar yet, maybe I will someday, but I think of them somewhat as fashion...what you choose to wear every day is always in some way an expression of yourself and a story you tell to others...even if you think you think you're choosing "no choice" (I mean, even if you wear the same thing every day or you "just pick the first thing handy," or if your Mom shops for you). It's not You it's the "you" that you're modeling today.

Like fashion, I think avatars are fun, harmless, and yes, they do say something about who you are playing at the moment.

Koko.

Mine is an internal misrepresentation of myself based on a
photo of a nonexistant semimythical creature who's persona
and attributes I seek to emulate.

wait, I is not saying that, I am da hat
and dat is my picture, if you don't believe it
I will kick you in da balls an teach you a lesson
on humility and relativity.

Yes its really me

Cheech

To me, it's kind of like wearing a t-shirt. Even if I'd have worn a plain white one, you'd assign some sort of meaning to it.
Mine is just a photo we haven't seen lately.

Mine is me, I am rush. If you look at my sig. That has me too, im a drummer, i have a bianchi, i ride shimano, and i ride.

I love rush, rushey, rush, rush :D

My avatar also reflects my other hobby, Airstream travel trailers. It's a photo from the 30s or 40s of Paul LeTourneau pulling an Airstream with a bicycle. I seem to recall he was a famous track racer at the time of the shoot.

So, can you tell from mine that I am an old-fashioned (old-FASHIONED, dammit, not OLD!) teacher lady who is on my way out the door for a ride through my 100-acre-woods, since it is 66 degrees and not raining and deer season is over? (Instead of wearing the dress in my avatar, however, I have on cycling clothes. :) )

I was thinking classy actually haha