Avatars and the impressions we give

[pop_54]

I actually honestly think I am more me here online (and here in particular) than anywhere else because I am free to express the whole me. Every side of me has an outlet sexual me, Fllirty me, Wifey me, Writer me, Mummy me etc etc. If you met me in real life you'd only see elements of those, and probably not elements of all of them.


You're a straightforward kinda guy then Joe. Not many people are brave enough to be themselves everywhere they go.


On the "Real Vs Fake" AV front I tend to think its best to go with an obvious made up image, a drawing, a painting, a cartoon. Then it is obviously NOT the person in the AV but a representation of them.

Have to agree love... I'm probably more me here than in real life... hell I'd never get away with saying half the things I say on here down the pub.

And yes Joe just continue being who you are.

 

[doormouse]

I love mine. Thank you Carl East for the pic

I'm doormouse and ferociouskitty so this is perfect, I think anyway.

 

[cantdog]

I rather tend to use my drawings or myself, quite recognizably. What are the church people going to say? "I was visiting the board at a porn site, and there he was! I am so shocked!"

When I saw we were discussing topics of moment, such as what is ultimately important, what bounds are needed in the art of child rearing, whether some groups of people require to be murdered, I generally show up as me; if we seem to prefer malarkey at the moment, I'll throw up a silly thing if I've got one. I play with images for fun, remember-- I draw and calligraph and design.

Some images are strongly emblematic. Emblems are as good as any other av, and give you some control over what impression might be engendered.

Nah. Avs are toys, really. I agree with Virtual Burlesk here. You can, I suppose, tell some things from a person's toys, but I doubt I'd stake anything of importance on an insight from such a clue, even when it seems pretty clear that the av was chosen to be expressive. It's fun to try though.

There is no art to read the mind's construction in the face, either. But we always give that one a try, as well.

 

[McKenna]

On the "Real Vs Fake" AV front I tend to think its best to go with an obvious made up image, a drawing, a painting, a cartoon. Then it is obviously NOT the person in the AV but a representation of them.

I like your view on this EL. Hadn't thought of it that way before.

 

[Guest]

 

[McKenna]

On the otherhand..some of your (McKenna) AVs.. vintage photos...i recognized as such, but someone else MIGHT think them to be you.

I think it was one of my vintage AV's that got me into a "discussion" about how I was misrepresenting myself. (Obviously to that person, a person is to be judged from his/her AV.) Hmm... I thought the vintage ones were blatantly vintage, (which is why I chose them over modern photography.)

 

[Guest]

 

[McKenna]

This discussion just reminded me of an AV I saw once -I think it was on the GB. It was a picture of a knight on a horse, obviously drawn and colored like an illustration in a children's book, and above the AV was the caption, "Why yes, my av IS me!" (Or something to that effect.)

I remember I pm'd the guy and told him I thought it was hilarious. He replied that he got sick of people pming him asking him about his av (previous avs, I assumed,) so he decided to put up something that was obviously not him with the little caption.

I do so appreciate a sense of humor!

 

[McKenna]

certainly I see them as obviously vintage...just as The Earl sees His actor fellow as obviously that dude....

we do not all have the same point of reference.

Good point. Maybe I should try something like the guy I just mentioned in my previous post.

 

[HornyHenry]

Yes, I DO!

I appreciate that but as Henry VIII I was what Lou's daughters call a BAD man. My court was a dangerous place to be and far removed from the image you have.

Henry was an absolute monarch and behaved like a war lord. Disagreeing with him could be fatal.

He did like women...

Og

 

[Carl East]

Mines really self explanatory.

Carl

 

[MlledeLaPlumeBleu]

Hey Cantdog...

I was just curious what you meant by mine or Vincent E's avatars influencing the way people respond to us. I'm trying to think of what I generally use, and I'm spacing. Haven't been around lately. Too busy

mlle

 

[LorriLove]

hiya, just found this thread, well alright got pointed to it, that's me in the avatar but i cheated, it's a six year old picture what does that say about me

(i haven't changed much except the t-shirt wore out eventually, must get another one like it)

 

[gauchecritic]

Like the T says, nice pair mum

Gauche

Edited to add: get over to the voice thread and give us all a blast. (Tell dad to make one too)

 

[Guest]

(i haven't changed much except the t-shirt wore out eventually, must get another one like it)

Lorri!Love! Wonderful to see you again, or at least the pear. I think I have a matching set , could be twins. And please do give us a taste of your voice, I've already asked the old man.

Come back soon,

Perdita

 

[Guest]

Looks like we need to have a 'Show Your Face" thread, just to clear up any confusion. It'd be nice to put faces to the voices to the personalities.

 

[cantdog]

Maybe, Mlle, it says more about my own psyche than about your avs, which are varied and yet nonrandom. You appear, to me, to possess a strong personality and a certain amount of substance. I also receive the impression of an accelerated maturity; that a lot happened in a short span of time, and that it resulted in a person more experienced than most people of a similar chronological age. It's in the set of jaw, the direct gaze. Then it's borne out by the sardonic nature of your posts.

The sarcastic is easy and common. The cynical, a defensive mechanism and a sport. The sardonic is rare, and always impresses me.

I am inhibited from bullshitting you, under the gaze of those eyes. I feel called upon to eschew frivolity unless I can rise to the level of wit. Your avs and your sardonicism make you larger than life.

I can do larger than life, myself. Acquaintances do find themselves reacting to me in ways they don't react to most people. I sense that quality in you, as well. I suppose I would have come to that idea of you without the avs, but they did set me searching in your posts for confirmation of the first impression in them.

Nonsense, perhaps. But there it is.

cantdog

 

[Belegon]

Then there are the ones where you don't know if the picture is really the person or not. Abstruse for one, and Belegon, and for a while I puzzled about Rideme Cowgirl until that was straightened out. I was shocked to find that Renza and Destony were real. Too good to be true.


---dr.M.

except for the occasional brief Calvin & Hobbes appearance, my AV's are me...

 

[English Lady]

now we need a thread about voices and avs and if we think those match up

 

[matriarch]

Looks like we need to have a 'Show Your Face" thread, just to clear up any confusion. It'd be nice to put faces to the voices to the personalities.

I have shown as much of my face on a couple of AV's as I feel it is safe to do.

Relative anonymity is very important to me, so there will be no 'showing your face' from Mat.

 

[pop_54]

Looks like we need to have a 'Show Your Face" thread, just to clear up any confusion. It'd be nice to put faces to the voices to the personalities.

Well mine's there for all to see... but I can understand people's reluctance to show all, and I can understand some folks will be too nervous to even speak to us... A lot of people given the freedom of anonymity will rabbit on for hours in writing... stick a camera or microphone in front of them and they run a mile, or clam up... Now where's that bloody mic got to.

 

[matriarch]

Well mine's there for all to see... but I can understand people's reluctance to show all, and I can understand some folks will be too nervous to even speak to us... A lot of people given the freedom of anonymity will rabbit on for hours in writing... stick a camera or microphone in front of them and they run a mile, or clam up... Now where's that bloody mic got to.

Not being coy, I simply live in a very small place where everyone knows everyone........I have no intention of allowing any of them to know my alter-ego, should one of them happen on Lit in their internet travels. (The law of averages says that some of them must know about this site). Added to which, no-one in my family is aware of my 'hobby'. I intend it to stay that way.

Mat

 

[impressive]

Added to which, no-one in my family is away of my 'hobby'. I intend it to stay that way.

Yup. Some people are just not ready for the real me. And, of course, there are some friends who'd have an exorcist at my door within the hour.

My mother, bless her heart, is such a creature of convention. She would be mortified if word got out that her darling daughter was writing such sinful stuff. (My brother & I just tormented her as teenagers -- due to her perpetual fear of controversy.)

 

[pop_54]

Not being coy, I simply live in a very small place where everyone knows everyone........I have no intention of allowing any of them to know my alter-ego, should one of them happen on Lit in their internet travels. (The law of averages says that some of them must know about this site). Added to which, no-one in my family is aware of my 'hobby'. I intend it to stay that way.

Mat

Quite so Mat... and fair play to you... in your circumstance I'd be the same... fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on viewpoint... my whole family know of my antics, well those that matter most... the rest can take their chances... Would be funny if my prudish older brother looked in here actually, yes... must find a way of steering him here

 

[minsue]

Yup. Some people are just not ready for the real me. And, of course, there are some friends who'd have an exorcist at my door within the hour.

My mother, bless her heart, is such a creature of convention. She would be mortified if word got out that her darling daughter was writing such sinful stuff. (My brother & I just tormented her as teenagers -- due to her perpetual fear of controversy.)

When I first put up my face I was a bit wary and part of me waited to hear about it at work or in some ill-timed outburst at a family occasion or something. I didn't get really nervous until I started using some of my other AVs which, while digitally altered (I'm not really electric blue ), were still me and naked to boot!

If anyone I know in RL saw them and realized that it's me, no one said anything so I can go on in blissful ignorance believing I'm anonymous.