Another great Spencer Wade post.

Another great Spencer Wade post.

Originally shared by Spencer Wade

Avatars, Anonymity & Social Networking

If you spend any time in the forums whatsoever, there’s a good chance you’ve come across quite a few users with no profile picture. While anonymity is a perfectly fine choice for most interactions with people we don’t know, or will never see in real life, it does kind of defeat the purpose of a social network. This is especially true when one takes into account how simple it is to change your profile picture in Google+, or in your overarching Google account itself.

When you meet and speak with people in Google+, especially those you haven’t met in real life, it is important to give them something to remember you by. This is the real reason profile pictures exist. They’re not necessary in an online setting, but they do perform two important functions - they allow users to express themselves and serve as a form of online handshake You can think of them as a, “Nice to meet you!” in a visual medium

When you’ve decided on your new profile picture, just login to Google+ and select the Profile Tab from the left. Once there, select the Edit Profile button which opens up a panel with several places for you to customize your information. You can select the camera icon over the profile picture or cover image, and then upload whatever image you want to use. That’s all it takes There’s even a little “i” icon which will take you to your Google About Me page (https://aboutme.google.com/). Here you can change your profile picture at the source. Either way, you now have a face to show the G+ world - even if it’s not yours!

Even if putting an image of yourself isn’t an option, for whatever reason, you can always select an image of something. This is where expressing yourself is encouraged Find a picture of something important to you, or a free-to-use, stock image of something you find beautiful or interesting. There’s no wrong answer here. There are even avatars provided for use, so you don’t even have to find something unique to you. In the end, anything as a profile picture is better than nothing.