Avatars in this community

(Sarah Hawk) #1

I have just noticed how perfect @griffinjay’s avatar is for the round windows on our homepage design.
(Annoyingly, by posting this I have pushed him off the end.)

Priming Members On Every Post You Publish
(Steve Bridger) #2

Still prefer square avatars, but round seems to be du jour. Perhaps the only legacy of Google+? :simple_wink:

I guess they are friendlier though.

(Griff Wigley) #3

Hah! Yep, that one is coming via Gravatar, where it’s square. I’ve cropped it from a photo of me with one of my granddaughters.

I use the full-size version on my LinkedIn profile.

(Richard Millington) #4

Do people put much effort into their avatars?

For speaker bios, I had some professional photos taken recently. Tend to use those images on various community sites now. It cost about £150 - which I think as a one-off is worth doing.

(Sarah Hawk) #5

I prefer casual ones. (I only changed mine because you said I looked like a serial killer in the last one.:simple_wink: ) They are more approachable and give you a sense of the person (or at least a perceived one).

(Richard Millington) #6

Don’t worry about it. People said I looked 12 in my last one. Now i’m up to about 23.

(Sarah Hawk) #7

No way! Still 12, but in a suit. :simple_wink:

(Griff Wigley) #8

Rich, I put effort into my avatars, but quantity, not quality. I have several roles that I use them for: family guy, consultant, community guy, mountain biker, and now bike advocate.

(rhogroupee) #9

I had been using the same avatar all over the place for years, and then a colleague called me out for using a pic that was 10 years old, lol. Seeing this thread makes me realize it’s probably time to update again :smile:

(Sarah Hawk) #10

I did the same thing. Mine was 5 years old and I noticed that people weren’t recognising me at conferences any more!

(Richard Millington) #11

I think also this needs to reflect what kind of community it is. I’ve noticed here the avatars range from very fun to very professional. A few feature people with pictures of their kids or partners.

For most community managers of professional communities, I think a professional picture is probably the way to go. It’s a pretty clear credibility signal. For others, I’d probably use an avatar that reflected the personality of the community

(Sarah Hawk) #12

That’s because most people haven’t set them specifically for this community – they are pulled in from Gravatar.

(Shellianne Redding) #13

I love Gravatar…got so tired of creating different avatars for each community!

(Steve Bridger) #14

…or running a mile :simple_wink: