Do users' profile pictures affect your opinion of them?

[Luigi 7,870]

Usually I don't judge by avatars, but there's this one guy I know from another site who got in trouble for using avatars of cropped porn.

[Dreambiscuit 10,033]

An avatar wouldn't affect my opinion of the person behind it. It might give me some insight into their character; their interests, their sense of style and such, so it would be a matter of information, not judgment. 

[Luminance 2,186]

I change mines all the time to keep things fresh but I'm always the same person inside.

[Kiri 7,290]

Hmm....When I see people with pony-related avatars, I get the impression that they're very much into the show still. However, there are quite a few with completely unrelated avatars who are also just as active in the fandom! If there's an avatar that stands out to me, pony or not, I am sure to take a peek at their profile page. Either way, I pay more attention to the person's profile page and the contents of their posts to get a sense of what sort of person they might be. 

[Br O N Y Kitty 107]

Yes it does! Way too much actually, but I really can't control that, for instance this avatar here

looks way more appealing to me than this avatar here

 (no offense though, I bet you're a great person..... )

And this avatar here looks quite neutral to me.

It's just like that if they have for instance a face with a stupid expression or something from a show that I really don't care about, it generally affect my opinion negativly, if the avatar is a cute or pretty cartoon character it will most likely affect it positivly. But it just affects the first impression, just like looks does IRL, but if the person shows that they're awesome, that I will still like them.

Edited January 7, 2017 by Br O N Y (2)

[The_Gobo 36,257]

The attached is my reaction to most things on this forum.

 

[Connie 320]

I don't judge anybody based on their profile picture, but people with non-pony profile pictures catch my attention faster than usual for some reason. I guess it's because they stand out from the crowd.

[Flutter's lover <3 8,206]

No, not really. Seeing non-pony  avatars(at least on these forums) Kinda throws me off sometimes though.

 

But on the other websites I'm a part of, where Pony isn't a thing and I'm generally the "token brony".....only sometimes. Even more so if they don't even have an avatar and jsut use the default/generic one that the forum/website has. I like to at least associate some sort of image to a person.....

[Sekr Gray 520]

It's kinda a toss-up generally. Most of the time the avatars are simply stating "I like [pony], so I have a funny/pretty picture of them," or that they are a fan of a certain other thing (like having WarHammer 40k, or TF2 avatars). If somebody actually has a pic of themselves as their profile pic, it's rare.

 

Overall, I'm not judging the person based on their avatar unless they have something I don't like as an Avi, but it's more of a gut reaction than anything in that case.

[\/ 651]

I didn't expect as many people to vote yes. It's interesting to see that they do affect people with some significance.

[Lil Pip 775]

If I changed my pic to something depressing or almost grimdark it'd certainly cause a perspective shift on interpreting my behavior, at least subconsciously. Psychological Priming would agree.

[Summer Breeze 2,528]

yes they do, I kind of see the user as their profile picture when I get to know them so what it is can have an influence on me. I try to not let it have too much effect on me but it certainly has some effect.

[Tao 7,921]

Not really,  my avi goes with my mood or feeling for sometime and if I change,  I change.   Someone picks their avi maybe in random or thoughtful or just for fun!

[Jokuc 8,174]

Yes it does. Not that I want it to or intentionally look at their avatar to get an opinion about the user but unconsciously I do.

 

Take these for example:

 

 

The people with avatar 1,3 and 4 already have my attention because their picture has something I also enjoy in it. If I didn't already know the person, the avatar sends me a message about his or her interests.

[Ricebug 555]

Yes. Unfortunately, very much so. 

Edited January 18, 2017 by YouMayNykki

[Tilgoreth 1,915]

Yes. Unfortunately, very much so. 

I'm not sure if your a big Lapis Lazuli fan or you just watch Steven Universe. Hrrrm. Oh hey check out my signature theirs a Pearl quote in the middle. Cough cough Peridot is my favorite character. Cough cough.

[Guest]

Does it? Do they?

I don't know

[Mast. Equestos/Gigas 340]

No, I really don't unless they are serious into their character. Like the saying goes "Don't ever judge a book by it's cover,  unless you read the chapters."

 

 

That would be my castle if my character was included. Or this one. I couldn't decide.  

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by Deathmare

[\/ 651]

In case anyone was wondering, it seems the 60/40 split is a common occurrence. Between this and another forum, I've gotten the same result.

Edited January 19, 2017 by \/

[Lucky Bolt 35,073]

yep, although I know you should never judge the cover of the book 

[TBD 17,256]

Not really, I don't pay too much attention on their profile picture.

[Midnight Solace 5,132]

Yeah, I feel like they are their avatars.

[碇 シンジン 27,432]

With the avatars being the only visual representation of the said user it is hard to not to let them affect on how you experience/identify the user in question.

I have a habit of discerning more about the avatars than usually is necessary. Which leads to situations where avatars that I am fond of I think differently about than those that I cannot identify the user or experience with the user with.

However it also works another way around where the behaviour of the user affects how I see the avatars so that is pretty interesting concept aswell 

Edited December 9, 2018 by Yu Ziyuan

[Phosphor 11,531]

Maybe initially, but I tend to look at their interests and such to find something in common. 

[Nsxile 27,250]

Not particularly tbh...