Avatars As Communicators of Emotion

[Usehername]

Avatars As Communicators Of Emotions from the friendly sciencedaily emails.

 

[Oberon]

I note that when we went into a competitive mode of forum behavior, I changed my avatar from harmless to threatening. That was a conscious choice, however.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

My avatars are a conscious choice of an image that represents me as meaningfully as i can come up with. I like having a representative image. The avatar and sig are like "if you wanted people to know one thing about you, what would it be?"

 

[phoenix13]

Yup, it's true. Thanks to this thread, however, I feel my deepest darkest emotions are exposed. I've changed my avatar accordingly. (It's the phoenix mars robot.)

 

[Wolf]

What does mine say?

 

[entropie]

Haha, I bet "wuff wuff" xD

Intresting in those "scientific theories" I find, are words like "A PhD thesis" or "Scientists have been working for decades" xD.

Ph.D. entropy says "76 % of Bananas are bad for your health", inescapeable scientific, period ! xD

 

[phoenix13]

The wolf is an interesting choice. It's a furry warm animal in a cold environment. Also, most wolf avatars show the wolf alone even though they're communal creatures. Interpret that as you will. Your wolf, however, shows a sense of humor and laid-back attitude. Now where's my Ph.D.?

 

[Haphazard]

I wonder if people see me differently now that I've changed my avatar from a laughing character to one about to slip into a deep-thought coma?

 

[The Ü™]

Wasn't this thread made in The Fluff Zone, already?

 

[Domino]

I think it does convey a lot of meaning. I find I feel brittle or tired or upset, I tend to reflect it in my icon.

But today, who can be grumpy or irritable with the Bruce!?

 

[cafe]

The article almost sounded like it was talking about something more like emoticons if I read it correctly.

 

[lastrailway]

I didn't read the article, but I think I agree with the poster that said we usually choose our avatars having in mind a certain impression we want to pass. It seems to me that people that constantly change their avatars are trying to find one that is the most flattering to their personality, while the ones that choose an avatar and stay with this for a long time wish to make a visual impression and being easy to identify among the other members of the threads.
For me, that I usually visualise the members exactly like their avatars, the impressions I get are members that want to stress their femininity/masculinity, their sense of humour, their friendliness, they want to provoke, etc. It doesn't even have to be representative, it's just a point each poster wants to make about themselves.

 

[Leysing]

Well... I like horses.

 

[01011010]

I wonder if people see me differently now that I've changed my avatar from a laughing character to one about to slip into a deep-thought coma?

I would judge yours based on what I know about the actual character. Lelouch is the most beautiful anime character I've ever seen. He's also possibly the douchiest. Yet, I still like him because he's clever. As most people do.

Nonetheless, avatars are superficial. They only show one tiny facet of how a person wants to present themselves. Mine is silly. I picked Near from Death Note. It's one of my all time favorite animes. Near was an INTJ. He liked to play with toys. Simple.

 

[NoahFence]

Mine was chosen purely for WTF value. I enjoy a good WTF, and I think there's not enough WTF in the world, so I spread WTF whenever possible. If no WTF is available, I will settle for a bit of OMG, but it's not quite as good IMO.

 

[colmena]

I've fallen for shoulder pads.

 

[phoenix13]

Mine was chosen purely for WTF value. I enjoy a good WTF, and I think there's not enough WTF in the world, so I spread WTF whenever possible. If no WTF is available, I will settle for a bit of OMG, but it's not quite as good IMO.

mission accomplished.

 

[Samuel De Mazarin]

You fuckers! You're ona wrong thread!

 

[miss fortune]

but I picked my avatar because Everyone Loves Hypnotoad!

 

[Little Linguist]

Mine was chosen purely for WTF value. I enjoy a good WTF, and I think there's not enough WTF in the world, so I spread WTF whenever possible. If no WTF is available, I will settle for a bit of OMG, but it's not quite as good IMO.

I agree. Mine is light-hearted, carefree, and definitely WTF - It's cute and I like it.

But okay, there is another meaning, but it's irrelevant.