I would like to know what you think about this…
When someone you follow via Twitter, Facebook or blogging etc, suddenly changes their avatar (the picture in their profile), do you find it causes you any confusion?
I see some people and brands regularly changing their avatar. With so much of marketing being based around building awareness of a brand and reinforcing the brand’s image, on a professional level, I find it interesting that some people regularly replace the image we associate with them.
Your feedback please
I would like to know what your thoughts or experiences are; either with other people who have changed their avatar or your own personal experience of giving your avatar a makeover.
What do you think?
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Yes, it is confusing. For the purpose of split-second identification as I’m skimming through the feed, my eye is drawn to the avatar more than the name beside it.
That makes sense to me. People think in pictures, so the avatar image can be a very powerful identifier.
Thanks Kal.
Good post.
I agree with Kal. I look for the picture first. I’ve deleted people on twitter when I didn’t recognize their pic.
It is also confusing to me.
I have TweetDeck constantly on in a second monitor, and I identify the people by the avatar, not with the name.
When I recognize the avatar, I read the tweet, if I do not recognize it, there is a big chance I will not even try to read the tweet.
Good point Guillermo. I think it goes back the the very first comment; People think in pictures.
We see that image and link it to the person.
Thanks for the feedback sir!
Good question. I Agree with you guys. When you follow +500 twitter accounts, you rely basically on the visual memory. Only knowing someone on a personal level can spare the confusion once they change their avatar!
P.S: I’ve been meaning to change my avatar since few weeks but I still can’t get myself to do it, fearing to lose some of my contacts. Is there a way to do it right? Like announcing beforehand that you’re changing your avatar? (the problem here, you’re not sure everyone will read your tweet).
Regards,
Lamia
Hi Lamia. Regarding changing your avatar, if you think it NEEDS to be changed, change it right now.
If you are just bored of it, that may not be a good reason to change it. Hope that makes sense? Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for your reply. My avatar made sense when I first started tweeting, But now I guess I need to re-brand myself. I agree that warning beforehand is the way to go. One just needs to choose the right time to do it! ^^
Have a great day!
Regards,
Lamia
Always changing your avatar will confuse people. People connect a brand with whatever avatar they’re using, by changing so many times, you lose connection.
- Cal
Hey Calvin – Good to see you stopping by the blog my friend.
I think in the 2 plus years I have followed you on Twitter, your avatar’s been the same. It’s also one of the best-known avatars.
I know that you were spotted numerous times at SXSW recently and feel sure a lot of that recognition came from your consistent avatar image.
Thanks for the feedback Cal.
That is the reason why people recognize me at conferences & recently at SXSW. My avatar is a constant on twitter. People would come up to me and say, “You look just like your avatar.” Guy Kawasaki told me once, “Your Hair is your Brand(avatar).” I’ve had the same avatar for so long that it has become my brand.
I changed it once and it confused people. Many didn’t even know it was me. Many more complained, wanted my avatar back as they liked my smiling face & spiky hair.
You can tweet out to your followers about your avatar change but I didn’t find it effective or even made a dent.
- Cal
Some great points there Calvin.
That thing about the spiky hair – I agree. It’s immediately you.
Thanks!!
I’m new to this but especially on Twitter I find that the avatar becomes something very familiar so my attention is drawn to it. Of course you’ll get used to the new avatar again but there will be a transition period involved. However, I don’t think the damage, if any, is permanent, not by any means. After all you can’t judge a book by its cover.
You make a good point Guzzimundi, regarding how long any “damage” might last.
I’d like to hear what people think on that. Thanks for the feedback.
I see a few people change their avatars – not normally an issue for me.
My eye’s drawn to the unfamiliar picture and I read their name – I can usually recognise that and I accept the change without deleting them.
I’ve changed my avatar and my wife’s changed hers – we’ve had no significant or noticeable unfollowers.
If you are planning to change your avatar, simply warn your followers a few days prior and tweet about it afterwards. I don’t see it as a biggie.
.-= Peter Bestel´s last blog ..You Don’t Have to Listen to me! (or John Reese!) =-.
Thanks for sharing your experience of changing your avatar Pete.
Interesting tip about pre-warning your followers before you change. Wondering how well that works across blogging etc?
But don’t you want to see how people age? I agree about not constantly changing your picture, but at least you should post a recent picture, and not one from the previous decade.
I see lots of people starting out with a 10/15 year old pic of themselves, Tammy. It needs to represent the person, not the way the person was a decade ago. Good points there Tammy. Thanks.
I like to see changes in Avatars too, Not John Blow with an Image which might not even Be Him/Her today..
I had a meeting with an online friend, when we met I couldn’t even recognize Him since His Profile Image was Him when In good shape, BIG difference.
.-= STRAIGHTALK´s last blog ..R1Soft Backups- the easy way to get rid of sleepless nights.. =-.
Jim – I use the same avatar I use for twitter on all of my social media outlets. It is also the photo I use on my blog too.
My reason for not changing it and for using it on everything is exactly what you said. I wanted my image to be associated with me and my brand. In fact, when I go to conferences, I have had people come up to me and know me before I know them. They all say, “we know your face because we see it everywhere we see you online.”
I think that is key to building a brand. Some will change their avatars just be “cute” and “cool”. They need to stop and consider for a moment what they are doing to their own brand by doing so.
Once again, thanks for a great post Jim. Another reason you are one of my must reads every morning.
.-= Grant Griffiths´s last blog ..Don’t be a Blogging Whore – Stop asking for links! =-.
You’re welcome my friend – Thanks for some useful insight and ideas, Grant!
I’ve heard it does cause confusion. Can’t remember where I read it though.
Much of the confusion, I imagine, comes from our time being in short supply. Followers just aren’t gonna spend a lot of time investigating the new look. Ignoring or deleting is much easier, sad to say.
I’m with you on this one, Tom. Thanks for the feedback!!
unless you are known for changing your avatar, or using a select few for different occasions.. why?
Because social media is about being genuine, (or supposed to be), the avatar changes with life..
somedays its.. #RAIDERS4LIFE!! – somedays it’s HOOK ‘em HORNS!!
the rest of the time it’s work, or maybe we are at the beach/pool and won’t be tweeting… some people use the avatar to convey a message about their lifestream at that current moment.
i’m going to be me.. people will follow.. but serously.. if you tweets hold value, does it really matter what your avatar is?
.-= @steveplunkett´s last blog ..What does your Facebook page say about you? =-.
Thanks for that Steve!
I get your point about valuable interaction, but not sure why making it harder for people to recognise you would help you be more “real”. I’d like to know what others think about what you said. Surely communicating how you feel is how to make people aware of what’s happening in your world, at that moment in time? Excellent point sir! Moves the conversation forward and good to have someone seeing it from the “frequent change is good” side.
i follow 2k+ people. i look at names, not pictures.
Twitter is like IRC/AOL chat but with icons, and of course several other differences.. lol
If you have ever tried to moderate a chat room, you learn very, very quickly
how to read names…. think about where twitter is actually head.. MOBILE.. how important is your avatar when it’s 10 x 10 pixels.. then again.. maybe it’s important your twitter avatar is scalable?
(hmm?? wanders off to experiment)
.-= @steveplunkett´s last blog ..Group Sues 20,000 Web Users For Downloading Indie Films =-.
but professionally.. for a client..?
ALL branding… ONLY use one!
crisp, clean logo and consistent background image.
.-= @steveplunkett´s last blog ..What does your Facebook page say about you? =-.
For me, it depends on how drastic the change and the type of tweeter. A newer pic is fine as long as its still recognizably you. A comedian can do whatever they want as long as it’s funny.
I find it to be cool and actually Impressive to see someone has time to take a pic in order to show that their is a REAL person behind the scenes..
How someone said, It only shows that You have connect with some one who is really their!
I like to know from close net-workers Who they really are! Not to have a 50y/o (which has been the oldest Avatar) Picture as an Avatar!
I change Mines Periodically.. So only those who are with me (7-10) Know what Social network I’m actually On that season!
So yeah, I use my Avatar as a signal to close friends!
Norman Flecha
Straightt talk
.-= STRAIGHTALK´s last blog ..R1Soft Backups- the easy way to get rid of sleepless nights.. =-.
Branding with social media is just is important as it is with conventional forms of marketing, in this respect I think it is vital to keep the same image.
An association is then formed between that person, their values, beliefs and products and that image.
The image should also be the same throughout all social media (Facebook, Twitter etc) to again form congruence within the brand that is that person.
Of course this argument only stands for people who are using social media for their businesses, personal (to me) doesn’t matter if they use different images.
cheers,
Mark
Dental Social
Network Marketing expert
Some excellent comments here – THANKS to everyone who’s contributed thus far!
THIS is why I love blogging!
On Xing.com some people who change their picture frequently seem to have a standard cycle of pictures they use for their profiles. The change triggers an automatic status message on “what’s new in your network” for people linked to them.
I find the tactic mildly annoying, since only a few status updates are shown on my landing page on Xing and I am probably missing interesting updates due to this “spam” tactic.
Best
CJ
.-= CJ Fitzsimons´s last blog ..Ask the Enneagram Coach, Part 3 =-.
Hey Jim,
As you know I change my picture occasionally, I get bored seeing the same one, so I assume others do – and its good to have an up-to date one, as someone else said, rather than an old picture that can’t possibly look like you anymore (I personally also prefer to see people rather than icons) but I do find it off putting the first few times someone changes their avatar – as you say we think in pictures and when someone changes it you have to look twice to see who it is – after a while you get used to it again.
I know & like Cal’s smile + spikey hair!
Agree with most here, except Steve!
But there is a “but”, and that revolves around Mark’s comment – if you are at the front of your business, then keep your avatar the same, right the way across your presence, everywhere – be consistent – that is “Brand You” after all!
I’m so old that I don’t change much now anyway! But having several Twitter accounts, I use different pictures/logos, but always try to be consistent with those as well.
As our friend @chrisbrogan says, you should humanise business as much as possible – people want to have conversations with people, not with brands/logos.
At the non-business, purely personal, level, I can see Steve’s point, as long as you aren’t changing every week!
None of this is an excuse for you to change your Grey/Red avatar Jim!
Keep ‘em coming!
.-= Howard Moorey´s last blog ..iPhone 3G + o2 Internet Tethering =-.
Howard… haven’t changed my twitter icon in 2 months.. lol…
I’m speaking #pubcon dallas and @searchexchange trying to keep them consistent..
.-= @steveplunkett´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
There are times when it is good that someone change their avatar. I currently am undergoing a change, going for a bit more professional rather than fun avatar. I do however have major problems with others changing their avatars – I am a visual person and tend to always look for that little picture before the id or name.
When I am in a hurry, which is usually, I scan Twitter for faces/avatars that I recognize. If someone changes an avatar but it is similar to the previous one…easily recognized as the same person, I have no problem. When it is totally different, I often miss the connection.
Claudia Broome | Inspiring Disabled Children
.-= ClaudiaBroome´s last blog ..Bullies: Sound The Alarm =-.
I actually go by names more than avatars. I think using Tweetie might be a difference here as it makes the names of people very prominent.
.-= Scott Gould´s last blog ..Social Means Celebration – Not Hiding =-.
Like many of the previous commenters, I automatically scan for familiar faces and use the same photo on all my social networks for ease of recognition – both online and at offline events.
.-= LouiseBJ´s last blog ..Website hacking can be disastrous for your business =-.
Changing avatars does confuse me too. I’m missed friends because I did not see their familiar face
.-= Susan/TogetherWeFlourish´s last blog ..Single Mothers, Check Out The Great Workshops Offered by ‘Side by Side’ =-.
I started using my logo, then I came from behind the Vail and used a mobile phone pic. I just did a photo shoot for another project so I used one of the prof. pics.
It’s a process.
Each time I changed my Avatar, my tweeps noticed and commented. Another way to engage. “Hey @ what do you think of the new Avatar?”
I think I’ll stick with this one for a while, but Like shoes, When I buy a new pair, I want to wear them. Sorry
@partyaficionado
I’ve changed my Twitter Avatar – once. I started out with the ‘eye’ that’s been my standard online for quite a while. I still use the closeup of my right eye in several online communities, but changed to a somewhat more conventional photo.
The issue was tone – I’ve been told that having that eye staring at the viewer could be disturbing. Normally, that’s not an issue – on Twitter, it wasn’t quite the image I wanted to project.
Generally, I’m with the folks who think that avatar-switching invites confusion. Particularly if you’ve got a set of followers who look for the familiar, and may not be all that interested in something new and different.
On the other hand, I can see having special avatars for special occasions – or cycling through a set of avatars. In either of those cases, If I were to have that policy I’d make an effort for each/all avatars to have a common ‘look’ – for easier recognition.
Good topic: I’ve benefited from the comments & feedback.
Good post, I’ve been waiting to see someone mention this and I agree with the points made in the prior comments… I get confused when there is a dramatic change in a peeps avatar. I can’t imagine how confusing it might be once you get thousands of folks in your stream.
Yes, your avatar definitely is part of your brand but I guess if you need to make a change you may minimize the confusion by keeping some aspects of the previous one: colors, shapes, or other elements so that folks will be more likely to recognize you. You might want to mention it as well.
That said, I guess I made some good decisions when I set-up my accounts and haven’t changed either of my avatars for years. Whether they’re good or not — or whether I like them or not is a completely different issue.
One thing I cannot stand is animated avatars, which imo should be changed purely because of the distraction factor! I rate it close to the tag in terms of annoyance (if you remember the deprecated tag, you know what I mean).
I do think it’s fine to change your background image though (I love custom Twitter backgrounds) but I think that consistency is important in this case as well — do it in such a way so that folks will recognize you or your company.
If it’s a corporate account, both the avatar and the background (and overall theme) should match the company’s brand. As the company brand changes over time, the Twitter stuff should too so it matches. I guess this is just basic branding stuff?
Note: the tag I was talking about is the <blink> tag. This was removed in my initial comment, sorry…
It catches my eye when I see an unfamiliar picture.
Have to admit it does not even occur to me to delete that person due to an unfamiliar avatar because at the end of the day there’s nobody in my twitter stream that I did not personally add in the first place!!
It makes me curious to take a look at their profile page and kind of awakens the interest again.
.-= Reeta Luthra | Stress and Health´s last blog ..Scarface: At a School Near You (Video) =-.
Hi Jim!
For branding purposes, it doesn’t make sense to change your avatar. Consistency is a strong branding strategy. In fact, I’ve gotten very confused and in some cases lost touch with Twitter friends because I didn’t recognize them anymore. My recommendation would be; don’t change it.
However, having said that, I don’t know anyone who changes their avatar more often than Chris Brogan and his personal brand continues to gain strength… his avatar’s can be quite entertaining. It definitely works for him.
In social media, it’s not “one size fits all”. It’s more of identifying what works for you and your community and doing that. If it is creating a positive experience for all – you’re making good progress.
I do not have a problem when people I follow/fan change their avatars. I like it when it’s a humorous change and appreciate that they keep “real” images of themselves up-to-date so, if I happen across them in real life they are recognizable.
I have heard that some people don’t like this, though and haven’t updated my Twitter avatar since last August aside from brief causes, etc.
Curious to see what everyone else has to say. Great topic!
I think updating your profile image is a good thing to do. In fact it is one of those things lingering on my ToDo list.
Somebody told me that they changed their avatar image once a year and I thought that was a sensible thing to do.
Even if we dont change our hairstyles or other aspects of our physical appearance, we do all age and as much as we might like to leave a more youthful image of ourselves online, those that know us either in real life, or for longer than a year, would KNOW that that image was out of date.
Changing avatar image is not something that I would do frequently though, since as you say, it does cause initial confusion, but not to the extent of say rebranding a company with different logos, straplines, or colour schemes.
The reason I wouldnt want to do it any more frequently is simply because it is a time consuming task to make sure you change the image everywhere. Having a mixture of images across social networking platforms is more confusing than changing regularly in my opinion.
Hi Jim
Brands eh (grr). I could write for England on that one. I don’t think us Brits get Brands. We get labels but do we get Brands – values, passion, meaning, substance, people and love for something. How many many Brands can we talk about now as being truly British? Mini – now what’s that all about or Aston Martin? Anyhow on the subject matter, no its pants to keep seeing things change but that said most of the stuff that is out there seems to be based on a person’s photo. Now’s that fine if you know what the person stands for – but do you, do you truly understand the person let alone the brand? If you are going to flip things then give your audience the story so that they understand the rationale for the switch.
Best wishes
Julian
OneLife
.-= Julian Summerhayes´s last blog ..The Beauty of Art =-.
Hi Jim, as you know,I did change my avatar to a new photo and my Twitter friends immediately noticed. Colleagues that I didn’t even know were paying attention were the first to say something.
When I had the the original photos taken, my photographer, Scott Savage, shot multiples of me alone, and then Teddy and myself. I was wearing the same teal colored blazer in all of the photos. On Twitter, I switched to a Teddy pic and on Facebook, I used both at different points, my former website had both too.
When Scott did the most recent pics, he came to my office to shoot to get the office feel to the pics instead of the studio feel.
I think people who change their avatar because of trends on Twitter or Facebook, going to oldie days or some other theme do risk the problem of losing identity but I do know the names of the people I follow as well as their avatar so like Reeta, I would not unfollow if a pic changed.
I think brand consistency is important. But it is important in more than the avatar. I also find it better when the people commenting on my blog have their avatar consistent with their brand on other platforms because it is on blogs that I am more drawn to the avatar than the name.
Love the responses you are getting on this topic!
.-= Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Getting in the door: Networking with Informational Interviewing =-.
I stick with a photo of myself most of the time, and usually the same one, since I am my brand. I get confused with other people changing theirs, and especially where they use an avatar other than a photo. Twitter is transitory too in a sense, so unless someone is already in one of my lists, he or she will fade into the background without a photo.
.-= Jon Stow´s last blog ..Why we should give ownership of their jobs to our employees =-.
I believe it actually depends on your intent with the avatar and social network. For business and branding in general, consistency in graphics and phrase build recognition as a matter of fact… also for friends, seeing your picture or a constant likeness of any sort does the same thing. Then… there is the intent to enroll your followers into actually paying attention… maybe because your intent is to high light or categorize your flow. To this end I use a set of avatars that are built from a set of components that rep my personal ID or my company ID… different colors and different arrangements give me the variety and accent that I need. I kind of got the idea trying to figure out which CNN to track when I first became twitterized.
Hi Jim, as you know,I did change my avatar to a new photo and my Twitter friends immediately noticed. Colleagues that I didn’t even know were paying attention were the first to say something.
When I had the the original photos taken, my photographer, Scott Savage, shot multiples of me alone, and then Teddy and myself. I was wearing the same teal colored blazer in all of the photos. On Twitter, I switched to a Teddy pic and on Facebook, I used both at different points, my former website had both too.
When Scott did the most recent pics, he came to my office to shoot to get the office feel to the pics instead of the studio feel.
I think people who change their avatar because of trends on Twitter or Facebook, going to oldie days or some other theme do risk the problem of losing identity but I do know the names of the people I follow as well as their avatar so like Reeta, I would not unfollow if a pic changed.
I think brand consistency is important. But it is important in more than the avatar. I also find it better when the people commenting on my blog have their avatar consistent with their brand on other platforms because it is on blogs that I am more drawn to the avatar than the name.
Love the responses you are getting on this topic!
.-= Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Getting in the door: Networking with Informational Interviewing =-.
Sorry for the Emphasis in the previous post. It was accidental. Please disregard.
.-= Claudio M.O. Moura´s last blog ..Meta Tag “Keywords”: Importante Usar e Otimizar =-.
From the pure Marketing standpoint avatars play the same role as a logo or a product printed picrure in an outdoor. It should be changed when it can bring some new advantage, new “product” enhancement, new marketing direction etc.
Photographic avatar in the sense of showing us for friends or colleagues and that does not carry any marketing purpose or underlying content may be changed with no further consequences. It is sometimes like “kid stuff” with some funny caricatures, mangas or even SD.
On the other side professional avatars may play an important role in the personal banding, vis-a-vis, logos play for companies, personal signatures for people etc. So the frequent change may be detrimental for causing loss of identity and loss of personal visibility.
A good recommendation from this standpoint is to carefully select a professional avatar to be use “via Twitter, Facebook or blogging etc” with the same marketing sight we or our client companies chose or design or change its logotype.
Many thanks for your attention,
Claudio
@_cmom_
.-= Claudio M.O. Moura´s last blog ..Meta Tag “Keywords”: Importante Usar e Otimizar =-.