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jonsblond's avatar

Do you expect a Flutherite's answer to "fit" their avatar?

Asked by jonsblond (43767points) July 5th, 2010

Do you expect nice, helpful answers from a person with a Dr. Phil avatar? Would it surprise you if a person with a Dr. Phil avatar wrote about their constant drunk fluthering?

I’ve had many avatars. Baby Firefly (a serial killer) is an example, but I’m far from being a violent person. My husband and I like to have avatars that are related somehow, that’s our “thing”, but I remember someone questioning my answer because of my avatar when I used Baby Firefly.

Do you expect certain answers because of the avatar a person uses?

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61 Answers

zenele's avatar

Not necessarily, Number one. I usually don’t look at the avatar at all – as they are tiny (for me) full of distracting things you call colours, and tend to change. The words… they resound… and I read between them to better know the friend or enemy within.

Engage.

chyna's avatar

I am surprised when someone uses an opposite sex avatar. They have Brad Pitt as an avatar and answer a question about tampons…very confusing.

Berserker's avatar

No. I’ve had a Leatherface avatar. I now have a Princess Peach avatar. I hope it doesn’t actually mean anything to anyone. Anyways I stick no importance to the would be relation between a picture and a message. (Or a user and perceived thoughts based on avatar.)
Pictures mean a 1000 words of course, but these days, the casualness which the Internet inspires with choices and customization, it’s probbaly worth the equivalence of whether to slice a sandwich vertically or horizontally, even if it’s a picture of yourself.

Only Bob would think that’s important. :p The sandwich part, not anything else. HI BOB I LOVE YOU. :D (And nor because your avatar is from one of the best webcomics ever known to man.)

Seaofclouds's avatar

I don’t make any kind of association between the avatar and the answer.

Cruiser's avatar

It doesn’t affect my perception as it is the words that reflect the person composing the answer. I have used 6 avatars so far and mostly to reflect my mood so I am not sure if that even matters to anyone! and my answer would be the same no matter which avatar.

zenele's avatar

Now go make me a sandwich.

Berserker's avatar

^
You’re not Bob. You can’t fool me. No sandwich for j00.

bob_'s avatar

@Symbeline Go make me a sandwich, then feed it to me while you’re sitting on my lap, please.

See, @zenele? Manners. Noob…

unused_bagels's avatar

Any time I’m answering @zenele ‘s questions, I talk like I’m a borg. Pretty sure Locutus expects it from me now.

Berserker's avatar

@bob_ Can I have the crumbs?

zenele's avatar

^ I don’t know if I can handle the pressure of being Picard anymore with these great expectations.

bob_'s avatar

@Symbeline Yes—and like them.

chyna's avatar

I’m so confused.

Berserker's avatar

@bob_ Thou knowesth I shall.

zenele's avatar

I like pastrami.

jonsblond's avatar

@zenele lol…you got me. I thought you were @bob_ at first. I expected the sandwich remark!

DominicX's avatar

No, but I hope people expect only good things because of my avatar. :P

bob_'s avatar

@DominicX Older sister, huh?

DominicX's avatar

@bob_ She’s taken. ;)

bob_'s avatar

@DominicX That’s okay :P

XD

zenele's avatar

@bob_ So… how quickly we lose interest. Fickle.

Neizvestnaya's avatar

No. On another website I used to frequent then many people changed their avatars weekly or more, you got a feel for people based on their actions and interaction style.

john65pennington's avatar

My avatar tells it all.

unused_bagels's avatar

@Neizvestnaya good point. I’m on uncannyxmen.net, and we change our avatars about once a week for fun (they have about 200 to choose from), so you get a better idea of people and their personalities.

augustlan's avatar

I generally don’t, but somehow I think other people do expect different things of me based on my avatar. Back in the old days, I had a pretty strict looking “A” on a plain blue background, and people used to say it made me seem ‘authoritarian’ and/or they mistook me for a man. Recently, when I was using a pic of myself as a little girl (in honor of AstroChuck’s 30K), and had to make some serious [mod says] posts, I felt like it would be hard for folks to take me seriously. Weird.

zenele's avatar

@bob_ Forget it.

(You used to enquire about my daughter. Two timer.)

vampmoore's avatar

since my avatar is of an angel…um…i hope no one expects that….

zenele's avatar

@john65pennington Don’t sell yourself short, dude. And I mean that in the nicest way. You are much more than the sum of your parts, and your parts aren’t police car auto-parts. You’re retired now, anyway, right?

Seriously, I’m not councelling you or judging you in any way – you know I’ve always liked you and your comments and we always seem to get along (I’m also a volunteer policeman) – but you are a really interesting person, and though most of your questions seem to focus on the law and order side of life, I don’t think a police car avatar “says it all” about you.

N’est ce pas?

TexasDude's avatar

Moreso the name for me.

lillycoyote's avatar

Not really, though I do expect better things from Zenele when he is Picard than when he is Kirk :-). Anyone want to say what exactly it is they might expect from this little creature? I can’t imagine what it might be.

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

@Symbeline When you’ve got Bob squared away with his sandwiches, I have some strawberry shortcake and champagne for you; served in the hot tub if you prefer. :^D

My avatars are random bits that appeal to me. They are sometimes selected to compliment or contrast with friends avatars. My favorites being fictional characters of farm machinery.

Facade's avatar

90% of the time, my avatar is of me. You can definitely expect that.

anartist's avatar

@john65pennington yes it does. [and I looked the first time I read something you wrote that intrigued me.] You choose to identify yourself professionally. 2 of my regular avatars do that to some degree also. I look at many of the avatars, either because I am interested in what someone is saying or because I am intrigued by what the avatar seems to look like. Often, but not always, they seem to be as much or a descriptor of an aspect of personality as the way the person might dress. I think mine are.

short answer: not the answer, but the personality and interests of the poster [including a perverse black humor in using a serial killer image]

kenmc's avatar

<<Fitting avatar.

lillycoyote's avatar

@Facade It’s funny how people are so different. 100% of the time my avatar is not me. For a while on Facebook my avatar was a picture of me when I was two years old and that is probable the only picture I would ever use of myself as an avatar on any website. Though on wis.dm I think I might have used a picture of my hand or my feet or something like that once.

Facade's avatar

@lillycoyote It is funny. I think I had a photo of a beautiful painting as my avatar once… I like to be able to see the face of the person I’m conversing with, so I suppose that’s my train of thought when choosing an avatar.

zenele's avatar

@anartist What does an empty picture frame say about you?

ETpro's avatar

Ha! People typing out true confessions and carrying on debates with a chambered nautilus? I certainly hope not. :-)

gemiwing's avatar

Sometimes it does. It takes a combination of the words over time, but I’m a visual person and an avatar tends to tell me something about a person. Do they like television, art or the like. Having a picture of a beautiful piece of art and then reading ‘LOLZ U SuX HarHar’ is a bit jarring.

On a sickeningly judgmental note, whenever I see an avatar of a person in an overly-sexualized (to me) pose, I assume they have boundary issues or they feel they don’t have much worth beyond sex. I get sad about that sometimes. I probably think like that because I used to be like that- so grain of salt and all that.

egads, how many times can I use the word ‘that’? it’s late, haven’t slept so the brain noodle isn’t finding any good substitutions at the moment. sorry about ‘that’.

zenele's avatar

That was great, @gemiwing – and I mean that.

MyNewtBoobs's avatar

Normally not so long as it isn’t of them getting drunk or high or overtly sexual, although I do constantly expect @zenele to be dignified and saying things like “Number 1” and “Engage” and randomly quoting Shakespeare and tugging on the hem of his shirt.

zenele's avatar

I don’t tug on my shirt. I’m rarely dignified. Engage.

;-)

talljasperman's avatar

@zenele I believe tugging on one’s shirt is referred to as “The Picard maneuver”...I do that as well as using my shirt as a napkin…and the dish towels too

rooeytoo's avatar

I like knowing what people look like. I especially like @DominicX ‘s avatars, we are watching this guy grow up right here in Fluther. The pic before the current one looked as if he is pumping some iron (lookin good Dominic!!!). I always wonder what Jeruba looks like because dumb me didn’t realize for the longest time she was using the pic of an actress, I thought it was indeed Jeruba. And Zennie, I gotta say, I do wonder about you, I love Picard, does the real you have his demeanor? And Wundayatta, he makes himself so intriguing and mysterious.

I always like to use my dog or dogs, don’t know why really.

chyna's avatar

@rooeytoo You might find the real pic of Jeruba here:
flutherbucket

casheroo's avatar

My answers are always sexy.

OpryLeigh's avatar

No, avatars don’t play a part in what I suspect someone’s input to be like. I still haven’t plucked up the courage to change my avatar, I’ve had this one for so long that I worry that people won’t know who I am if I change it!!!

zenele's avatar

Picard is much more cerebral than me. He could command a spaceship – I couldn’t. I could lead a platoon into battle – but that’s it.

He is also sensitive, musical and has tons of EQ to his IQ.

I’d like to think we have more in common than just a bald pate – but I fear he is (both the role, and the thespian) more man than I’ll ever be. I applaud and salute Stewart, and the genius behind the role and series, of course.

I do, however, aspire to be like him. Does that count?

BluRhino's avatar

What sort of advice would you expect from a Rhinocerous?

rooeytoo's avatar

@chyna – Thanks, I never noticed that one before! You should use your own pic Jeruba, you are beautiful. Now still waiting to see the real Zen.

zenele's avatar

My buddy down under @rooeytoo – sorry – for security reasons I cannot post photos of myself on the net. Two people have seen one (older) photo of me here: Matt Browne and another. You can ask them to describe me – but that’s about it.
One day I hope to be able to post pics and clips – expecially of the kids.

Me, I’m not so interesting looking anyway – but my kids – wow! gorgeous.

They take after their mom, you see.

rooeytoo's avatar

Are you a double agent???

DominicX's avatar

@rooeytoo

Glad you like my pictures. I’ve been posting avatars like this on Q&A sites since I was 14 and some Flutherites know me from back then. And yeah, my boyfriend and I have both been workin’ out a lot this past year. :D

downtide's avatar

Avatars on Fluther are so small that 90% of the time I can’t even tell what they are. I never even look at them because they are useless to me at that size.

anartist's avatar

@zenele any work of art you choose to see there

jazmina88's avatar

I read the answers and then look for the author…...

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