Choosing the Perfect Avatar for Hubpages

I guess I got here too late to see your original Avatar, that's a pity. I knew what Avatars were because I have sons who used to play video games at home (before they grew up and left, anyway). Avatar, the movie, OMG yes, it's got to be the greatest CGI movie ever made! Top that, Hollywood! Anyway, looking at Avatars on HP is interesting, and I love them. This is a good informative hub. Voted you up and useful.

how to create an avatar online free??

Thanks so much, drbj, for linking and for being a great inspiration as to creating a new design for an avatar. This hub is very insightful as to the importance of avatars.

Blessings, Faith Reaper

Hi drbj,

I linked this hub to my new avatar hub. You have been missed.

Hugs, Faith Reaper

drbj,

I took a cue from Faith Reaper to land on this page.

Avatar is a Sanskrit word, wich means incarnation (You have already explained the word). One of the basic principles of Hinduism is Avatar of God. The Hindu God Vishnu has taken many Avatars. Ten Avatars of Vishnu is very popular in Hindu religion.

In the western language, the word Avatar was made popular by social media to indicate the profile picture.

I was just checking in to see if you had written anything of late. You have been missed my friend. I hope you are well.

Bravo on this hub.....and I loved the new avatar for Faith.

Have a great weekend.

bill

Hi drbj,

I arrived here via Martie's amazing hub this day, and I am glad I did. You have provided great insight as to one's avatar and what it represents! I love your new avatar, but don't know that I've seen the previous one. Guess I need to see the movie too. Hmmm, just pondering what a Faith Reaper Avatar should look like?

Voted up +++++ and sharing

God bless, Faith Reaper

Thanks for the education on avatar...I have not seen the movie as I rarely go to movie theaters..long long ago I went to one..but I do watch videos at home so will have to check out the movie.

Maybe I will come up with something clever for mine..someday.

Sending you Angels on day 21 of this new year. :) ps

Hi Drbj :) Every time I see your name, or your avatar commenting in any of my hubs, my attention is on "it." Maybe because I always love cartoon and anime and I find cartoon avatars cute. In fact, most of the time I would used a cartoon as my Facebook avatar. I didn't know there was a hag there as I always see a maiden, looking at her right side, or maybe looking at a leaf or handkerchief (whatever that greenish thing is that seems to have flown away by breeze.) ^-^'

Anyway, just curious, have you ever changed your avatar or tempted to change it? I feel that way. I don't even know why I ended up with a five-starred lemon... maybe because it was unusual ^.^' Voted up!

Drbj, I only see an old woman and no matter how I look at the picture I never see a young woman.

My picture is of me. I wasn't clever enough to choose anything else.

I love the style of this hub, the flow is simply flawless, thanks for this piece.

Doc,

Since I've read this wayyyy after it was posted, I believe I'm safe in assuming you decided to NOT go with the fairy God-mother with the broken wand.

I'm really happy you didn't. The poor thing looks annoyed, tired, weak and she's wearing granny clothes.

In regards to your current avatar, and the only one I know you by, yeesh, please don't laugh but, in my zipping and skimming, I'd not paid much attention to it, and until not long ago, I thought it was a guy in a rumpled white shirt with brown slacks, his elbows on his knees, and not showing his head.

I know. I can be such a dork, lol.

But, as soon as I realized that it WASN'T what I'd thought it was and looked more closely, I did see both ladies.

I don't think I can do avatars. I've used photos on facebook for my profile pic, but everyone on fb knows what I look like anyway. I do still switch it out on occasion to keep away the boredom.

And now I'm thinking I should maybe do that here as well.

Heaven knows I hate to be bored and don't want others being bored either.

:)

femme

Good Morning, drbj! I have wondered about your avatar for a while; finally went back to your profile. I remembered you live in S. Fl. as I do, then I saw this Hub. Maybe, I'll get an answer! I did. Now, I know. I have NEVER seen an old hag; only a beautiful young girl with a scarf on her head. Wonder if that makes me normal or abnormal???? See you around....

Informative and interesting hub. Thanks for sharing

I still get a big kick out of this hub, do you have more people/avatars upcoming?

Your welcome drbj and you've earned the appellation. I've just read another of your hubs. They are brilliant. Well done. Voted up on both.

Hi drbj I will be visiting your hubs regularly; you've written many topics that are interesting. I like your interpretation of my profile picture,I can see the reasoning. Thanks for taking the time to think about it and make a comment. I agree with your assessment; spot on. Hubpages is a new experience for me and I have spent much of my teaching career warning people not to disclose information on the web. The picture was taken a few weeks ago at an army day that I took my grandchildren too. They got to see the big trucks etc. I am holding a world war II lee enfield 303 rifle. The picture was taken by my son. We play war-games online so it was taken for that purpose. When I came to Hubpages I thought I'd use it; as it represents (for me) my intention to take aim on topics that I think need exposure, illumination or education. If you check the 3 hubs titles I have written so far you will get where I'm coming from. Great to meet you and thanks for the input. You are an inspiration. Voted up

I have seen this old crone many years ago and I knew their was a young woman in there somewhere but it took a while for her to appear. The perception switch (Gestalt,I know I'm showing off teaching Grandpa to suck eggs; but hey what can I do?) I have used the gestalt switch when teaching (duck/rabbit). In really helps the students to understand that things are not always what they seem but more how we see them. Great hubs I will be back for more. voted up. Cast your eye over my profile picture (it's me) and let me have your clinical assessment of what it represents. Just for fun. Go on you know you want too!

Hi, again-- glad to see that this has so many great comments.

Dang, (as Teresea McGurk would say) I wish I had thought of using this avatar. I now realize that people might see me as an old woman, but I know my 'younger self' is still in there. I'm sure you understand.

Owls don't show their age.

drbj, I just stumbled across this hub and its so interesting! I love your avatar, we have a lot of mutual friends so i've seen you often and have been meaning to visit you for a while. Its funny, I always see the old lady in the little version and now that you explained it, the young one is all I see in the big version. I love the fairy avatar, and I'm partial to fairy tales so I believe my opinion would be prejudiced, but your current avatar suits your personality - intriguing and layered.

I guess my avatar is in the realism category. I used to use cool pictures (usually a cool one of a silhouetted fairy against a sunset) until I got some decent pictures of myself and felt like a real hubpages writer. It was a self-confidence thing with me.

Great hub and awesome discussion starter. Take care!

THTNK ABOUT THIS--GARDENING REQUIRES FERTILIZER AND WASHINGTON DC PRODUCES AN ABUNDANCE OF IT.THERES GOT TO BE A PONEY IN THERE SOMEWARE.

Hi, drbj - when I see your avatar first appear, I see the old woman. But when I come to your page and see the larger size, I see the young one. Every time. My own avatar shows me shoveling chicken manure. I put that one up when I was writing a lot of gardening hubs. Now I've been writing a lot of fashion history hubs and some how it just don't go. haha.

Yep she was wild for a grandma:) Hilarious lady!

Yes right? Haha! I am sure it's all irrelevant and healthier to keep some things out of the discussion. I.e., previous relationships. No one wants to really hear about that junk. I wouldn't want to know some things about him as well. My grandmother used to tell me, don't ever go looking for things you don't want to find!

Very interesting that you point that out. When I took the RPSGT exam, even though the questions were not clustered, I received a perfect score in that area. That was a huge surprise to me.

You know, It would have to be my husband. I think he knows nearly everything about me. Though I think everyone keeps their cards close on some topics:)

I think it is all so interesting. I took several classes in psych and sociology but some how I could never seem to apply things to my own self. I guess that is probably good though. I don't always trust my own self!

I love the current avatar. I have seen something pretty similar to this (maybe in a class, I can't remember?) I loved the hub! You are so dead on with everything. Your magic wand is certainly not broken!

I love this hub of yours. Avatars are something often undervalued, but they say so much about a person.

I'm so glad you decided to keep your avatar!! When I go to 'hubbers I follow' your's is about the easiest to pick out.. Not sure why, but I like it!

Lol..no,no dragons and thanks for the reassurance.

Drbj,

Your avatar, interesting as it is, has been causing me grief. I've only ever seen the old woman..and after reading this thread, tried for a very long time to see the young woman, without success. I began to worry. ..why can't I see it? do I lack all perception? am I a chronic pessimist?

Eventually I did see it, after much effort. Then I rationalised....I've been looking at that picture for several months and the old woman is imprinted on my brain as the right way to see it. Anyway, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Even now I can only hold the image of the young woman for a few seconds before it starts to revert to the old one.

drbj- I have little imagination. I just grabbed a pic and went with it. I like consistency so I'll probably stick with it. God bless!

Great hub! I love the way that you started it. Avatar is one of my favorite movies. I just watched it again during the thanksgiving weekend.

I definitely agree that it is all about perception. We all say "Don't judge a book by its cover" but the fact is, we all do. It is built into our DNA. It is difficult to escape from this even if we consciously try to do so.

I have tested with some different profile pictures, and it is really interesting what reactions I get based on them. I also used to role-play characters on online games which is also extremely interesting.

I like your current profile picture although I must say that all I see is the young girl. No matter how I squint I can't see the hag. Maybe I'm an optimist. :D

I only saw the old lady when first looking at your avatar. After reading your hub and all of the comments (whew!), I looked at it again and immediately saw the pretty young lady. Fascinating. I wonder what it means.

Loved your hub. Unique, fun and thought provoking as well. I am so lucky to be your newest BFF. Thanks

drbj,

I keep trying to remember the first time I saw this image.... I'm sure I was told early enough that there were two ways to look at it, and so I have always known that I should see both ways, and so I do. The old woman is easier for me to see than the young woman, especially with the color. I'm not used to seeing it in color.

Did you decide to keep the picture as your avatar then? I like it. Double Image Optical Illusions have always intrigued me. Maybe I will pick a new Avatar with a similar theme some day.

Great hub, drbj!

~AC

omg.. I am FINALLY able to see that grl. thanks for the card trick or else I would have never been able to see the shy grl looking away..lol.. but for me the old woman is more prominent.. :D .. but now I can clearly see the old lady's mole and eyes are the young grls nose and ears respectively..lol you rock :D

I can only see the old woman :O... I've seen this picture bfore and know that there are two women one is old and another is bful but I've always failed to see the other woman.. :O

btw amazing hub :) I would have never thought of writing a hub on choosing avatar images.. cheers!! xD

Looks like you picked a winner subject for hubbers-- (since almost everyone has one). I do like yours and I am familiar with it, since I have always enjoyed teaching the lessons of perception and optical illusion in my classrooms.

I think yours suits you well.

After reading this, I am thinking I should choose something more enigmatic and meaningful, but as Popeye the Sailor was fond of saying " I yam what I yam".

My avatar graphically illustrates the inhumanity of birds towards horses, counterbalanced by a cat in a riding helmet, which eats birds but will not ride a horse except sidesaddle. The cat eats the birds, not the helmet.

..you have a veritable smorgasbord of hub material - something for everyone - so much entertainment and always enlightening - I will never starve here - I cannot go hungry - there are many intellectual calories - and I always go away - well fed!!!

Drbj, this hub popped up in my cell-phone screen today, for some reason. It's interesting, I have always wanted to mention to you that I remember your "avatar" icon from high school psychology class! We studied it and analyzed "perception" and many of the things you mention here. I changed my hub pages "avatar" many times before arriving at the present one ~ but I may change it again ~ who knows:)

I had to laugh when I read the first part of your hub regarding your current avatar. I saw this picture for many times before. The last time it was in Stephen Covey's book. He was describing the perception and how two people can see the same thing in completely different way.

And the funniest thing was that every time I looked at your avatar I saw young lady. I haven't even noticed until now that it is THAT picture with an old lady on it too.

I first didn't know what to put for my avatar. And since I had so many photos of my daughter I decided to use one of those. She has such a special look in her eyes, and I feel blessed every time I look at that photo, so I don't want to change it.

Some may find me not serious enough when they look at my avatar, but I'm quite serious :o))

Until today I only saw the old crone. When you blow up your avatar I can see the young girl so clearly but not when its small. Perhaps ugliness is easy to spot a mile away and true beauty needs a closer look?

Had to let you know that I finally see the young girl. It was because I had scrolled up higher so I could see the eyelash and chin line. When It is a bigger picture, it's hard to see the young girl for me.

drbj-I have Always seen the old lady or hag as you put it. I am trying to see the young girl and will be obsessing over this today until I see her. I agree with everyone that this avatar is just perfect. I think if you changed it you would have sad followers, especially niteriter. He would be crushed!

Haha, I like your avatar now, drbj... although the hag is an interesting thought but I'll probably laugh every time I look at it.

This Hub was really interesting. I was going to say that I didn't think much about my avatar but that would be a bold-faced lie. I actually put mine together in photoshop, combining music and psychology. Ever noticed? ;-)

Thanks for an interesting read.

Now look at your avatar from another angle,look at the left eye as ear,the black line under the nose as neck line(chin line),the other eye(only eye brow)pointed towards right side,and under the nose line that is now converted in to neck,further down you can see the part of the chest,scarf is still scarf.Now you can see a young girl.

Drbj-first glance of your avatar appears if some billiards player pointing his cue to find the right angle on the ball in a white shirt,(while in commenting mod) and see thats what you are exactly doing here.

This was a fun and entertaining read. Great job.

My avatar has been many things but is currently one of myself. I tend to change them all the time because I get bored with the same one lol

hmmmm why is it that i feel I have been here before!! Well even if I was it was a great read the second time around:) Rated up as always .. useful as well:)))

Interesting hub! Every time I see your avatar I just have to marvel about the two possible images. Mine is me - as Popeye would say, I yam what I yam! lol

First of all thanks for your lovely 'fan comment!' I am so excited with this form of communication and expression: hubpages.

I like Rebecca E's avatar. I also like the 'real ones' like mine...I used to have a pic of some nature scene.

Will catch up w/ you later!