The Face You Show: What Your Twitter & Facebook Pictures Reveal About You
July 29, 2009 / 10:14 am • By Dr. Melissa ClouthierYour avatar on Twitter and your picture on Facebook matter. People make judgments based on the image they see. Here are some common weird things people do:
1. You & a buddy: I have a new friend on Twitter. In his tiny avatar picture, he’s leaning against another guy. Finally, I asked him if the picture was of his life partner. He exclaimed, “uh, no!” Well, when you have a picture of you and a bud and it’s shrunk to a centimeter, people think….life partner.
2. You & your husband/wife: You’re married. You’re in a relationship. That’s nice. When a person puts their spouse in their picture, I immediately guess that either one member is insecure or the relationship is in trouble. Whatever. It’s an individual account, not a group account.
You & your kids: Cute. On Facebook not as big of a deal, but on Twitter, the picture is so tiny, my only question is why? It’s not your kid’s account. Soon, you’ll be talking about your kid, so we’ll know you have a kid.
Your kid: Um, why would you use your kid’s picture on Facebook or Twitter? It’s confusing. When the face goes by in the stream, no one knows who is talking. It takes extra time. [Corollary here: Stupid answering machine messages by kids should be obliterated from the universe.]
Your dog: See above.
You when you were 17: Yeah, I looked better back then too. No, I don’t look the same. Neither do you. It’s no fun to have a guessing game–unless there’s a Twitter or FB guessing game as has happened on ’70s and ’80s day. Once again, it wastes time.
Cartoon characters: You’re not Superman. You’re just not.
Famous people: You’re also not Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan or Barack Obama, unless you are, which in that case, it’s okay to use that picture.
What to use:
1. Nice, clear, close up picture.
2. An iconic image associated with you (if you’re anonymously blogging or have an anonymous online presence).
That’s it. Are you hideous? Unlikely. Will people respond better to you if you have a nice picture? Yes. Images are stored in a different part of the brain and a good image will help people identify you.
If you want to be cutesy and obscure, use MySpace. On Facebook and Twitter, clarity is prized and will get you more followers, friends, and more networking connections. The internet is a literal place.
4 Responses to “The Face You Show: What Your Twitter & Facebook Pictures Reveal About You”
July 29 2009 / 2:07 pm
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2. You & your husband/wife: You’re married. You’re in a relationship. That’s nice. When a person puts their spouse in their picture, I immediately guess that either one member is insecure or the relationship is in trouble. Whatever. It’s an individual account, not a group account.
Or in my case, it’s because I’m dashingly good looking and don’t want to get hit on – so my wife is in the frame as a warning shot across the bow of any flirtatious types – to let them know to not waste their (or my) time.
July 29 2009 / 2:25 pm
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Whew! I worried you would have something about people who photoshop their faces onto someone else’s red Bozo wig. I’m in the clear.
I totally agree about the kid thing! When I search for someone on FB, and I get pictures of kids… I don’t know if that’s my friend or not! So I skip adding them.
July 29 2009 / 2:43 pm
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So I take it you like my new-as-of-yesterday Twitter/FB avatar — a more recent, more direct face shot?
July 31 2009 / 9:13 am
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Cartoon characters: You’re not Superman. You’re just not.
Speak for yourself…
Back when the internet was ASCII-only, ugly women (fat people, ethnic people–insert your own prejudice here) couldn’t be dismissed immediately, before a single word was spoken, as losers or imbeciles based on their appearance, as people do in real life. On the internet, no one knew I was a dog–they talked to me like I was a real person, which was exactly the opposite of how people treated me in real life. Now everyone expects a picture, and when I provide one, they blow me off. It’s not an improvement.