How to Decide Whether to Add Your Photo as your Profile Picture

Have you ever noticed how your opinion changes of someone who you have got to know a bit, either online or on the phone, and then when you see a photo of them or meet them in person they don’t fit the image you had of them?  It is totally ridiculous but our brain forms not a picture as such but a person who seems to fit into a particular category and so when we actually see the person it most often comes as a complete surprise and our brain cannot accept them as the person we knew.  It is much more dramatic than seeing someone who you previously knew years ago who had changed a lot with a different hairstyle, maybe a beard and who now wears glasses and has put on weight.  The brain still accepts that person as a different version of the one we already know.

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As you know I used to run an Entertainment Booking Agency with a partner and I particularly noticed how much a photo changed perspectives when working there.  There was never a problem with the acts as of course we usually had publicity photos of those.  It was with the customers that I noticed it really.  We built some very close working relationships with some of the distance customers so we got to know them really well before we actually met them and in some cases it seemed really strange when we met as they were nothing like we expected them to look like (and most likely vice versa as well).  Sometimes the dynamics of the relationship changed after that initial meeting as well.  Often I presume just because the personal side of now knowing what the other person looked like affected the attitude of those involved. 

I sometimes found the other person a bit too intense after the initial meeting if they were male.  There is no getting away from the fact that a young woman can get a lot more attention and work than an older woman or a male.  We arranged a lot of military functions and I can only say that it worked to my advantage being a youngish female as phone calls were always returned and they made time for meetings.  Once we decided to put up a website and added our photos for the personal touch we found nearly everyone who rang in asked to speak to me and not my male partner in the agency.  That included women – women like to speak to other women, and males …. well males like to speak to women too, but for different reasons. 

I have noticed that although I decided I wanted to come out of the agency my ex partner has not changed the website at all and my photo is still on there.  I guess he thought it would be best for business and I have no problem with it still being on there as I am a rather laid-back soul and if it helps his business then I don’t mind.  I do wonder how it helps though, as apart from any new business, everyone else must know I am not there any more as it has been several years ago now since I left and they must just think the website is way out of date.  It probably just costs him too much to have it updated and to have my photo removed as he now just runs the agency in a smaller way on his own and the website hasn’t changed since I left.

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So there are several reasons I didn’t really want my photo to be on my sites, one of which is the reason I have mentioned, but also for several others as well.  I think there is a danger that stalkers can get too much information about you these days on these sites and not having a photo is quite a good prevention for this at the start.

Another reason is that I just hate having my photo taken – I must be one of these unphotogenic types.  There are very few photos I ever like of me and most of the photos before digital ones came in ended up in the bin.  I don’t look in photos the same as I look in the mirror (even though you are seeing a mirrored image to what everyone else sees) but other people have also said that I don’t look the same as I have come out in the photo.  The one I have used is one of the few that actually looks like me.

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Which brings me nicely to another point - the photo that is on someone’s profile may not actually be of the person at all.  It could be a photo of someone else entirely or a very old picture of the person.  So having an avatar on there instead is not a valid reason not to follow someone on sites like Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or the bookmarking sites either.  Checking out their profile, their followers (not the ones they are following) and their posts (checking they are not all shared posts) is a much better indicator of the person.

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If you are a good looking male or female you are likely to get a lot of followers for the wrong reason (unless of course you are on there to meet a partner in the first place).  But then you also have to risk once again that the other persons photo is really of them and not their good looking friend.

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However, I have succumbed and added a photo of me purely so that the people who are following me can put a face to the name BUT I am just going to keep it on my profile page rather than use it as my main picture.  So my Pendant-Heaven avatar will be the one that people see all the time as it is consistent with the avatar on all my other sites too.  

I do understand that some people have not followed me at all because I didn’t have my photo on my profile but then again are they the sort of  people I really wanted to follow me if they are that shallow that they only go by a photo rather than my posts or my profile information?

I also freely admit that it is subliminal possible advertising for my handmade jewellery, but then a girl has got to make some money somehow and the tiny reminder that I make pendants is there every time someone sees one of my posts.  They may not buy anything but at least they know I actually make the jewellery and will know where to look if they want something for a present if not for themselves.  If I didn’t use my Pendant-Heaven avatar they may remember that one of the people they are following makes jewellery but don’t remember who, although I must admit that the fact that I add one item to my ArtFire site each day and then post about it on the sites is a big clue.

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So at the end of the day it may well come down to whether you yourself are happy to put on your photo as your profile picture or not.  In most cases it would be perfectly fine but if you are a young female it is best to put a bit more thought into it as you may attract the wrong type of follower.

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Todays trivia snippet:

Why do people run over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

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And here is todays chuckle:

A man went to church one day and afterward he stopped to shake the preacher's hand.

He said, 'Preacher, I'll tell you, that was a damned fine sermon. Damned good!'
The preacher said, 'Thank you sir, but I'd rather you didn't use profanity.'
The man said, 'I was so damned impressed with that sermon I put five thousand dollars in the offering plate!'

The preacher said, 'No sh-t?'

I am afraid I don’t know who this is to give them the credit but I saw it publicly on Google+ a while ago and it seemed fitting to use on this blog.