Why the avatar?

or; what do we use to represent ourselves?

Published on September 1, 2006 By SanChonino In Blog Communities

With the new format for the forums and Zoomba's article about putting up an avatar to be a "cool kid" (if you haven't read it yet, read this article here), many of us have been putting up (or changing) our avatars. It's gotten me to thinking - why do we pick what we pick?

For months my avatar was a portrait of Miguel de Unamuno, my favorite author. But with the new format, I felt I wanted a change. So now it's Holly, the hologrammatic computer program from my favorite BBC TV show, Red Dwarf. Norman Lovett played him just so well, as did Hattie Hayridge during the middle series . . . (Hattie's female Holly is my avatar on MSN Messenger.) I picked it because I'm just such a fan, and Holly is just so funny. Heh. I'm weird.

But the question then presents itself - why do we have the avatar that we do? Serenity has an actual avatar as her avatar . . . George Nash has a picture of himself . . . Zoo has a red-headed little something . . . I can't tell what Jennifer's is . . . BlueDev's is a cool flaming eye with a door or something . . .

So . . . what is it? What's your avatar and why do you use it?

Spill it already.

Comments (Page 1)

Dr Guy

on Sep 01, 2006

Alf. I like Cats.

SanChonino

on Sep 01, 2006

Alf. I like Cats.

Or is it that you're hairy and short?

Shovelheat

on Sep 01, 2006

Mine is from the cover art on the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. My favorite book of all time.

SanChonino

on Sep 01, 2006

I thought I recognized that symbol . . . it's been forever since I've read that book . . . it's about time I read it again. Oh wait, school just started and I'm too bloody busy reading El Cantar de Mio Cid and Popul Vuh to read anything else . . . stupid spanish lit classes!

foreverserenity

on Sep 01, 2006

My Avatar has been on my Email and IM for a while now. I copied it to my blog site a long time ago but never figured out how to place it so it could be seen when I made replies.

It’s not from a story or show or anything, it’s a female that I tried to make reflect the way I look. And I found this jazzy looking hat that looked like one I love to wear!

My full-size Avatar is with even shorter hair; my new look and is dressed in boots made for walking! I’ll try to copy it here so you can see her. Her name’s D!

SanChonino

on Sep 01, 2006

My full-size Avatar is with even shorter hair; my new look and is dressed in boots made for walking! I’ll try to copy it here so you can see her. Her name’s D!

Do it! Do it! I wanna see . . .

Harumph

on Sep 01, 2006

I chose mine because she's a character from my online comic.. May I Help You? Which started out as a caricature of myself and a friend of mine and has developed a life of its own. But it's a dear project to me, and it means a lot to me.

SanChonino

on Sep 01, 2006

But it's a dear project to me, and it means a lot to me.

Very nice, harumph! I'll have to check out your comic.

jennifer1

on Sep 01, 2006

ParaTed2k

on Sep 01, 2006

Because if I'm going to Pick anything for my avatar it's going to be of my own design of cross guitars. Is there anything more fun to pick? ;~D

crimson

on Sep 01, 2006

Mine's a dime. Like, stops on a dime. It's a nod to my driving skills in emergency situations.

SanChonino

on Sep 02, 2006

No particular meaning other than I love cats.

Very nice, now I at least understand the what it is . . .

Is there anything more fun to pick? ;~D

Heck no Ted!

SanChonino

on Sep 02, 2006

It's a nod to my driving skills in emergency situations.

I'd love to hear about these driving skills in a post some time, Nicky . . .

Texas Wahine

on Sep 02, 2006

Mine's pretty easy to decipher. I change my avatar every so often, but right now it's a Soldier and spouse couple.

I might change it again soon. I get bored looking at the same thing sometimes.

cactoblasta

on Sep 02, 2006

Mine's just a monkey with headphones. Because that's all we are really - monkeys with less fur and shinier stuff.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!