Interesting question about whether or not it’s safe to post our photos online, and whether avatars lend ’credibility’ to an online business.
12 Comments
12 Comments
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Comments
Ya know, I think that you do. Not necessarily your personal photo, but at least a ’logo’ or image that shows skimmers who wrote what article. Personal photo for networking is stronger. Graywolf has an awesome one and it’s not his personal photo. There is no mistaking his icon when you scroll down the page. When you see Danny Sullivan’s face, it’s obvious who he is too. So if you want to strongly market yourself, a static photo is the easiest way to get known. Plus when they see you around all these search engine conferences, it’s easier to notice people. It’s all about networking.
Yes, I agree with you. It’s nice to know who you’re interacting with right?
Skinner, I am glad you brought it up here. As I said in the post, my concerns are safety oriented. For example, look at this article http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2007/03/28/kathy_sierra/index.html As a female you are more at risk. I know that makes women mad, but it is the truth. If someone wanted to track a female blogger down that didn’t know she should pay for privacy when she bought her domain and her picture was out there she could be at serious risk. I think I might just go with a custom graphic.
While there are pictures of me out there, I prefer to use more interesting pictures to identify myself. It’s only partly for privacy purposes, but in case anyone fails to recognize it, that fellow there to the left isn’t me.
I think it certainly CAN be risky, but so can getting out of bed some mornings. ;) I do use an ’altered’ photo as a rule. Of course - it helps that the photo is 20-some-odd years old - it may be difficult to recognize me now from that alone.
Now there’s a thought: we could all lose a few years using old photos. Hmm. Good idea.
lol - this is my personal photo :) I think more than using your photo a Name is more important. What better way to brand yourself than to use your name when you’re dealing with online forums & blogs? Truthfully - I hate being photographed and I think this one is so much more fun ;) They use my photo on my article over at SearchEngineWatch and I am not extremely fond of it. Someday I’ll have one done that I might like, but I’m not sure I can find a photographer willing to go through the hassle.
Great topic, Ive always wondered what others thought about it. Great replies so far too, I like to use both. If someone really wants to find me they can, but all in all I still prefer my nick and avatar, most have gotten to know me from early on when thats all I ever used. Ive put my thoughts on the blog article too.
There are tw oconversations going. One here and one here -->http://seoaware.com/2007/08/15/do-you-need-to-feature-your-personal-picture-in-social-media-opinions/. I am tryin to keep up. Carrie, I like your opinions. Thanks.
I used to use one of my favorite street art photos as my profile picture - which is also a play on how I feel about advertising ;) - (http://f3.yahoofs.com/mingle/424b0e91z7961c233/profile/__sr_/9490.jpg?mgohHxGBcibMME1V) and granted some knew my name however; when I went to events I’d have to introduce myself to people who knew me from my persona. Once I moved to San Francisco and I changed my profile photo to a real pic, I did notice that now when I go to events people come up to me since they put the face with the online persona... so it is one thing if it is an online persona only... but it helps people put a face to a name at events.
Well, at the risk of sounding New Age (which I’m not) I use my intuition to size people up--I think everyone does to a certain extent but they mostly won’t admit it. So an actual picture makes me feel safer about doing business online. It has also caused me to avoid doing business.
It is nice to see a personal logo or image in a forum, or discussion site. For people whose opinions I always like to read, I sometimes scan down the logos first to see if they are already in the conversation, and read what they have said about a particuler topic first. Having said that, I rarely bother to upload an image myself. I have recognised a few people from their image or logo at SEO meetups in recent times; so it has a benefit in the offline world too.