I've been meaning to make this exact sift talk a bunch of times. I too have noticed, that the avatar determines a lot of how you interact with someone. Others have said the same thing to me too - with my current avatar, my words seem to carry more weight, and with my old Robot Devil avatar, people seemed to read my comments in HIS voice, which I think is awesome.

I think the psychology of this is very interesting, it sorta mirrors the McGurk-effect.

*quality

Awarding ForgedReality with one star point for this contribution to VideoSift - declared quality by gwiz665.

Oh, and about evaluating avatars - I think they can be both positive and negative. I mean, every time I see Stanley Kubrick I think "smart, thinker, perfectionist" etc, which obviously is a COMPLETE misdirection.

In the same way, an avatar can heighten the meaning of a comment, like with body language, same with the background color and user name color.

I only use this avatar so people will think I'm a great poet and/or a crazy factory owner. So far it hasn't worked, but I'm gonna keep on trying.

I can only say that I've noticed the same thing, ForgedKittenReality, avatars influence my perception of the users behind them a great deal - oftentimes even more than I'd like them to. Btw you awe sooo cuute, yes you aawe!

P.S. Does MY avatar give any subconscious impressions to anyone?

AWESOME post, forged. I have never really thought about this directly. But it is a really interesting area. What I will say is that once I saw the sift-ups, the representations of the folks on there replaced their avatars as characterizations.

EDD, actually, I think your avatar is pretty neutral for me, interestingly. I actually think most of what shapes my opinion of you and a handful of others is your post on the great sift coming out post or whatever its called.

And if anyone is curious, I am actually a black male tryin' to keep his dick hard in the hood!

interesting.
speaking only for myself i try to avoid making assumptions about people based on such an arbitrary thing as an avatar.
i try..sometimes i succeed,sometimes i fail.
i dont think anyone is immune from making an impression based on someones avatar and chosen name.
the initial reaction at least is almost instinctual,but through dialogue and commentary that picture takes on a much clearer personification of the individual.
so while i may take that very human step of assuming where a particular person may be coming from,i refrain from actual judgment until more information is provided.
i try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
i think we all choose our avatars and names to represent what we wish to portray,how we wish to be perceived.
everyone having their own motivations and desires and all different in their own right.
people fascinate me.
great post FG.

If you were to ask me to name or describe three avatars used by members of this community, I would have to pass. I don't notice them anymore. In fact, I haven't noticed avatars in any forum for at least half a decade. Same for signaturs if they can't be deactivated from the get-go.

>> ^gwiz665:
Oh, and about evaluating avatars - I think they can be both positive and negative. I mean, every time I see Stanley Kubrick I think "smart, thinker, perfectionist" etc, which obviously is a COMPLETE misdirection.
In the same way, an avatar can heighten the meaning of a comment, like with body language, same with the background color and user name color.


So when Gwiz had Dr. Zoidberg as his avatar I was mildly amused by his zaniness, then he switched to Seth Rogan and I kinda felt sorry for him; now I think he's a cold bastard with a huge wang.

No one fucks with me.

I enjoy down-voting videos from avatars that are an affront to my senses.

>> ^radx:
If you were to ask me to name or describe three avatars used by members of this community, I would have to pass. I don't notice them anymore. In fact, I haven't noticed avatars in any forum for at least half a decade. Same for signaturs if they can't be deactivated from the get-go.


Subliminal messages such as in advertisements have been shown to be more effective on people who do not believe they are receiving them. I know I feel completely oblivious to most banner ads but that doesn't mean videoSift's ad selection doesn't color my perception of the site. I think we should expect the emotional content of an icon in close proximity to a posted message to have some effect even when we can't match an avatar to a username.

I'm not asian.

"IMA BITE YOU RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWR!"

Homer no function beer well without.

>> ^EDD:
I can only say that I've noticed the same thing, ForgedKittenReality, avatars influence my perception of the users behind them a great deal - oftentimes even more than I'd like them to. Btw you awe sooo cuute, yes you aawe!
P.S. Does MY avatar give any subconscious impressions to anyone?


Haha! Nice. Yes, I try to think of avatars as little more than a means of personalizing someone's online persona. This in itself, though, tends to say something about that person, even if they don't intend for it to. They chose to personalize it that way for SOME reason, and in that sense it tends to carry some weight, so we can't help but be influenced whether or not we know it. Don't you think?

Also, your avatar might not have any meaning to me were it not for past experiences. So I guess in that way, avatars can also have an impact we didn't intend, since it's going to be different for different people because they're coming from different perspectives.

As griefer stated, your avatar is fairly neutral to me as well, except when I factor in the fact that I used to know someone who went by the online name "MrWoot" and he was basically a huge dickhead, and the word "woot" from then on holds a bit of a bitter aftertaste for me. I don't have that impression of you, but that avatar just conjures up memories of an oddly mentally unstable person. That or woot.com, but to a lesser extent.


>> ^radx:
Subliminal messages such as in advertisements have been shown to be more effective on people who do not believe they are receiving them. I know I feel completely oblivious to most banner ads but that doesn't mean videoSift's ad selection doesn't color my perception of the site. I think we should expect the emotional content of an icon in close proximity to a posted message to have some effect even when we can't match an avatar to a username.


Advertisement is a great example. Companies spend years and lots of money developing a "persona," or brand, that is a positive one which consumers can relate to, and hopefully vote with their pocketbooks on how favorably they view that brand.

It's the whole reason logos, taglines, etc. are developed in the first place. Companies will exhaust inane amounts of effort in developing specific guidelines on color, size, placement, and other usage rules that outline the ways in which their brand can be used. Any communications to consumers must follow these strict guidelines so that the brand remains consistent and minimizes the chance of confusion on the part of the consumer. Confusion in itself is a signal to the consumer that maybe that brand doesn't have as solid grasp on its identity over, say, another brand which may or may not have an impact on their products or services. More than that though, keeping the messages consistent is a powerful means of impregnating that brand into the minds of consumers so that the brand is remembered the next time the consumer decides to buy a product with which the brand may be involved.

I guess in a way, avatars are our logo, or our branding. A lot can be said without using words, and corporations go to great lengths to ensure that the things their brand says to the consumer are all positive. Psychology is a crazy thing.

Mine is self-explanatory.

>> ^gwiz665:
Oh, and about evaluating avatars - I think they can be both positive and negative. I mean, every time I see Stanley Kubrick I think "smart, thinker, perfectionist" etc, which obviously is a COMPLETE misdirection.


Who the fuck is Stanley Kubrick?

^It's that guy that made Apocalypse Now and American Pie.

>> ^blankfist:
>> ^gwiz665:
Oh, and about evaluating avatars - I think they can be both positive and negative. I mean, every time I see Stanley Kubrick I think "smart, thinker, perfectionist" etc, which obviously is a COMPLETE misdirection.

Who the fuck is Stanley Kubrick?


http://tinyurl.com/rc27ys

Except for men.

>> ^Farhad2000:
No one fucks with me.

>> ^ForgedReality:
>> ^blankfist:
>> ^gwiz665:
Oh, and about evaluating avatars - I think they can be both positive and negative. I mean, every time I see Stanley Kubrick I think "smart, thinker, perfectionist" etc, which obviously is a COMPLETE misdirection.

Who the fuck is Stanley Kubrick?

http://tinyurl.com/rc27ys



I don't get it. I just see links on a google page. Is that what this Stanley Kubrick thing is? Is it code for links? I'm so confused.

People sometimes think I really am the crazy Asian dude in my avatar, I bet.

I'm crazy, but I'm not Asian.

I was assimilated by the Internet. I am Borg Ant. Resistance is futile.

^if you were a true sci-fi fan, you'd know the three of us will kick your ass

I find that when I change my avatar, it changes my behavior as much as anything.

Serious cat needs a monocle, schmawpaws. It would add to the seriousness.

My avatar is temporary; I haven't found a good one in a while. If avatars were bigger (which I wouldn't want) I'd have a lot more options available. It seems most people choose faces or easily identifiable things to display in their avatars. When I see one and can't tell wtf it is, I assume that person isn't familiar with how small avatars turn out after uploading, or just wants to seem obscure and enigmatic. My brief thoughts on the subject.

I still want to see a http://www.threadless.com/submission/222011/Three_Keyboard_Cat_Moon three serious cat moon. That would make everything better.

Hey guys, what does my avatar s ---- HOLY CRAP RUN

I love them. I make up stories about everyone that are so outlandish they only serve to entertain me even more while sifting. So I do make assumptions on you based on your avatar, but not in a bad/creepy way. In an over-the-top silly fun teenage girl way. (I know.. I am probably too old to do that) It's great fun. I like to see how my stories compare to the actual people as well.

I'm a cockney bitch! Come 'ere, I'm gonna cut yer!

When I first landed on the sift I had a few people tell me they loved my cute avatar of a kitty hugging Mr. Hankey. They didn't see it the way I did. That's not "hugging". This is a picture of an animal that is one second away from sinking it's teeth into someone's throat.

I really haven't been that interested into avatars before, but now I find it alot of fun to put together an avatar to properly identify you... For me, I like to use avatars that have a tie-in with my current interest... Besides one avatar, most of my avatars have always been with a VG-Swordsman theme... I don't know if anyone has said anything on it, but I know back when I had the Kratos Homer avatar, I got good feedback...

As for this avatar, I just put it on just now... I think that this is a very nicely put together edit from the actual Blazblue game...

Cry some more.

I have no idea if my avatar affects anything to do with my comments. Odds are people read them and hear them in the heavy voice, but
other then that, I have no clue.

I think the combination of name with avatar gives me a preconceived notion of what that person is actually like. With mine, I was shooting for something A-sexual...I dunno if it worked.

McDonald's paid me to advertise their new Angus Burgers, so I just grabbed something off the Net.

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>> ^burdturgler:
When I first landed on the sift I had a few people tell me they loved my cute avatar of a kitty hugging Mr. Hankey. They didn't see it the way I did. That's not "hugging". This is a picture of an animal that is one second away from sinking it's teeth into someone's throat.


I've already given you my thoughts on your avatar...
Now you're saying that basically it represents the sentiment "eat shit". Hmmmmm....

By the way, Hello everyone!