Should I Change My Avator OR Just Leave It Alone?

1. 60

   dawei888posted 15 years ago

   Hi! I was thinking about this for the past few days: I think my avatar is very, very boring. simply a pic of me at the beach.
   
   Question for you: Do u think it's unwise to change your avatar once you've been using it for a while OR do u think it's a good idea to change it to mix things up a bit?
   
   dawei888

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      CabinGirlposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Change it, variety is the spice of life. Me and the Captain change ours all the time so yeah change it every 3 weeks, but you look cool ya know but change is good, yeah ?

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      Davinagirl3posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      It is a good picture of you.  I appreciate the fact that it is really you.  You don't see that often.  If you can find a picture that you think depict you better, it's up to you. But, your avatar suits you.  It is you.  My avatar is a pic of me.  I am not the most gorgeous chick in the world, but that's me.

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         badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I think you deff look hot !

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            Davinagirl3posted 15 years agoin reply to this

            You silver-tongued devil!

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               badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Just speaking the truth Davina, you are one hot chick !

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                  Davinagirl3posted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  You are one dangerous character, Mr. badcompany... and Irish, too.

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                     badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

                     And all yours right now Davina

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         dawei888posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Davina! Thanks :-) I appreciate your comment!

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      alekhouseposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Lots of hubbers change their avatars from time to time. I've been here two months and changed mine 3 times. I think you should do what pleases you.

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      Milla Mahnoposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Why would you want to? You are such a handsome guy!

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         dawei888posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Ahhh...thanks Milla...the only other woman who tells me that is my mom!!!

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      Eaglekiwiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Looks fine the way it is , but personally I think change is good too.( surprise , surprise lol)
      
      why not experiment ,and you can also flick it back.
      
      I usually gravitate to a hub for its content ,but thats me

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      GeneralHowitzerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      No need, your very good looking with it.

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      MissJamieDposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Change it and change it whenever you feel the need. When I'm tired of seeing the same picture or want to portray my feelings, I change it to whatever I want. I love that part of it. But of course it's up to you.

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      Lady_Eposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Nice pic, nice background.  You could change it for a few days and see how you feel about it and what comments people make to that effect. It just takes a minute to change anyway.  If you do, I hope it will still have your Smiley face.

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2. 69

   Maddie Ruudposted 15 years ago

   I think having a real photo of yourself is good, because it builds trust (both in your outside visitors and within the community), but if you don't like that particular picture, you should go ahead and change it.

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      badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Although I hate to disagree with the lovely Maddie I will, trust is not the issue for outside visitors but content and an interesting read. A real photo is not what they seek, a good interesting read is, but I may be wrong, or looking at my outside reads I may be right. But and a big butt, if I looked like you I wud deff post my real photo. Nice to have you back Maddie

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         dawei888posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I'm with the Good Captain on this one - Miss Ruud brings a ray of sunshine with her beautiful smile in her avatar pic!
         
         I take care of a cute little stray calico kitty outside named Princess - Maybe she'll join me for a new avatar!

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            badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

            No Whitney deff has a point and one that someone else pointed out to me as well. If you check Whitneys hubs you will see loads of comments from outside of hubs and I mean loads. I dont respect many people on Hubs but I do respect her because she deff has Hubpages sussed. So keep your pic mate, people will respect a real pic more !

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               dawei888posted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for your advice, BadCompany. Tomorrow I'll think of how I can get Princess the cat to pose with me in a new avatar pic. i just think mine is boring.
               
               Just had a look at Whitney's hub on Dog Seizures - She has an incredible amount of comments from outside hubpages - AMAZING!!!

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                  badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  Exactly !

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         anime_nanetposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         OMG! You're no longer Jonnhy Depp! o____o
         
         Seriously now, I think having a real photo can indeed increase your credibility (if you write about credible topics, that is LOL!). It's especially effective if you want to publish hubs in order to sell something or to serve as a link to your personal blog.
         
         Otherwise, it's not that big of a deal. Myself have the same avatar since I joined, almost one year ago. It's an anime pic, but that's what I hub about, so I think it's apropriate!

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            badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

            So what avatar do you prefer of me as a fan, cause I care about peeps that care about me ?

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               Davinagirl3posted 15 years agoin reply to this

               I prefer the real you!

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               anime_nanetposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               I don't really care about your avatar, man I like your forum posts a lot though. You bring life to this desert
               
               (I'm gonna be flamed for this one ahah)

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            Lisa HWposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            I my case, it worked the other way. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered on Hubs like "how I toilet trained my kids", but it was damaging when it came to Hubs like, "overcoming grief".  Too girl-next-door-ish for some topics.  I'm guessing I'm not the only woman with this issue.

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               badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Im confused now because I like yer hubs Lisa, jeeez what to do, be the Captain, be me or just bugger off, I dunno, do I even care, bugger it !

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      anjalichughposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. It increases credibility ...that is if you into writing some serious stuff

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   CabinGirlposted 15 years ago

   Such a flirt Captain, even with the Hubpages staff, you worry me !

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4. 82

   Whitney05posted 15 years ago

   I agree with Maddie. I've seen a few different things online that state that it's better to have a picture of yourself to gain trust.
   
   Your traffic comes from the content, but whether people believe you or come back to see what else you have to say is because of trust, which leads to continued traffic.
   
   If you have advice and how to articles, they just may not believe or trust the info given to their questions if from a monkey, for instance.

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      badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I really can't argue with you Whitney as I have seen the amount of outside comments you get. Believe it or not I respect your reply and I may put my real pic as my avatar because you may have a point. Thanks for the comment Whitney, and enjoy your weekend !

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      Andrew0208posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Hahaa, I laugh. You're right. Some avatars(wild animals) could really place less value on the poster. Dave, most excellently you're using your pic, you can also change it with any other one of your choice.

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   BristolBoyposted 15 years ago

   Maybe I should change mine from my squirrel to something else.  Not sure what yet but I will get thinking and looking for a pic.

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      badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I really do think Whitney has a point Bristol and to be honest if you look at her outside comments you really can't question her stats, I dont think anyone gets more outside comments than her so I have to agree with her and also thank her for bothering to comment, she didnt have to !

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         BristolBoyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Yes I agree Whitney has had lots of traffic!  Problem is I have had many comments complimenting my avatar.  I might change it as an experiment sometime!

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            badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Its whatever you are happy with mate, I intend to follow a different path than what I used to follow. My first 3 months were a learning curve but my next 3 months I intend to make my outside traffic exceed my hubs traffic and I will !

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            dawei888posted 15 years agoin reply to this

            BristolBoy - I do indeed like your current avatar. Maybe you could contact Hal Lacino and have him somehow blend your actual pic w/the squirrel's pic using photoshop. he's our in-house photoshop expert...

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         Lisa HWposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         but isn't a factor for her Hubs also that they're about very specific things?  They seem like very searchable subjects to me, and that's what gets the best outside traffic.  I can't help but wonder if it's the substance of her writing more than the fact she has a real photo.

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6. 69

   Cam Anjuposted 15 years ago

   I like your avatar, but change is always good, I change my avatars often, it's really up to you.

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   k@riposted 15 years ago

   I did not change my avatar for a very long time, then a friend suggested I should.  I have gotten much better traffic since I did, and I now change it on a regular basis. 

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      badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      And I deff love it more than that damn cat

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   Lisa HWposted 15 years ago

   Your avatar is a nice picture.  If you're happy with it you should leave it.  Avatars can, though, affect your traffic.  I never posted a real picture because I don't look "authoritative", and I worried that a picture may mean people wouldn't take my writing as seriously.  I posted one, and in two days I started getting e.mails from people who were giving me tips on how I should have written whatever I wrote!  Then there e.mails from people I can only assume were looking for women they thought they could scam.  I took the picture down.  Then, still wanting to make some effort to be a little more personal, I added just my eyes to my Earth avatar.  I figured other people have just their eyes or parts of their faces, so I gave it a shot.  My traffic went way down!  :  I suppose it was too weird.   Oh well, back to the Earth avatar. 

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   girly_girl09posted 15 years ago

   I think your pic is great (who doesn't love the beach?) If you change it, I'd definitely advise you to at least keep a picture of yourself.
   
   I know when I'm reading on other sites (or even on here), seeing real pictures sort of pushes me to keep reading because psychologically a real person wrote this information. So, obviously your photo won't help you get more SE traffic, BUT it may help your readers to stay on the page longer and read your info. I have no way to really prove this, but it's my best guess.
   
   When I first started, I had a pink flower or something like that...but, I think my real picture is much better because it can give my readers a sense of trust. This varies for all topics, of course, but for me I think it works well since I write a lot of healthy eating, weight loss and beauty stuff/feminine type stuff.

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      Whitney05posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      That's what I've seen. Content brings basic and most traffic, but trust that the information is accurate is in the belief that a real person wrote the information, which potentially keeps people on the page and keeps some coming back.
      
      But to each is his own. Whatever one thinks works best for him/her, is what that person should do.
      
      I don't think that the avatar should be a major point of focus in comparison to content.

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10. 59

    Jodi Hoekselposted 15 years ago

    Hey, Badco! Be who YOU feel best to be!! That is the only answer that matters!

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       badcompany99posted 15 years agoin reply to this

       I no longer know who the real me is, goodnight !

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    dabeanerposted 15 years ago

    I believe in posting an actual photograph of oneself, such as I have. 

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    Lisa HWposted 15 years ago

    Eaglekiwi, all of yours are appealing. Changing it frequently does kind of add interest.

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       Eaglekiwiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Bless your cotton socks what a kind thing to say Lisa
       
       (Ill be in my p'j's next hehe}

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    Mrvoodooposted 15 years ago

    The only real time I've ever paid much attention to a photo in a hub was when I accidentally found one of my own hubs whilst looking for info on something, I got half way through it before I actually recognized it and had to go check the avatar.
    
    I was like 'who wrote this garbage?' ah, it was me...

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       Eaglekiwiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       yer just too modest MrV ,and humorous
       
       but bet ya havent done what I did one day ,standing outside a store window looked at this women who was bigger than me~~ smiled smuggly and stepped out to get on the bus ...yep you guessed it , the reflection was moi..dohh

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          Mrvoodooposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          lol, I've done similar, given myself the evil eye a few times 'Oi who you staring at?' lol I let him off though as he was such a good lookin fella.

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    wannabwesternposted 15 years ago

    From my point of view, I change my avatars around, but usually use pictures of me as a kid, or pics of my kids. I am usually the one behind the camera in the family and rarely get a decent photo taken of me. I tried taking pics of myself in the mirror and got a bunch of weird angles.
    
    I appreciate the interesting comments. Do you think its a cop-out to use old photos?
    
    I sometimes wonder about the people depicted in some web avatars. Are the writers really the "hot babes" depicted in the photos?

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       dawei888posted 15 years agoin reply to this

       HA - FINALLY somebody brought this up! Thanks WannabWestern! I am 100% sure that a lot of the "HOT CHICKS" contributors here on our favorite website are ACTUALLY DUDES!!!

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          Eaglekiwiposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          phew well that makes me feel better  I think lol

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          CabinGirlposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          That's a disgusting thought, there are deff some weirdos about

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    ethel smithposted 15 years ago

    Its up to you. I think it is good to see an actual person, as he or she is. Perhaps you should change it though as you look a little like someone I do not like. Just joking lol

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16. 0

    \Brenda Scullyposted 15 years ago

    change it for a while then change it back when you feel like it up to you...... maybe you could grow your hair and a beard for the next one.... only joking of course

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    dawei888posted 15 years ago

    It seems that holding your pet is THE way to go in Internet marketing avatars - do people agree with this?

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       Andrew0208posted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Hahah. Any lucky reports? Though, nice one.

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