Profile Picture on Twitter
Wow is this a “touchy” subject. Let’s get into it!
Company versus Personal
First-off, I think most of us would agree a personal picture is better than hiding behind a company brand if you want to develop a closer relationship.
How often should you update your picture?
I think it is always good to update your picture to some extent. Shows freshness and gives others something to talk about. That being said, I have probably changed mine too many times lately based on comments.
Change 1 – Original Picture with color
Reaction: After a year, someone would not follow me because they thought my picture was fuzzy and were unsure if I was a real person.
Lesson Learned - Clean up your picture!
Change 2 – I changed my profile with a side view and changed the picture to black and white, (grayscale).
Reaction: People thought I looked creepy, some convict tendencies, maybe you saw this picture.
Lesson Learned: Side profiles are not too cool, tend to create feelings of mistrust… I was a little taken back, I thought it looked cool.
Change 3 – Back to a suit and a smile; Changed picture to black and white.
Reaction: Some people still wonder about the black and white mode.
Lesson Learned: Still working on this one!
What is your Opinion?
Color Picture | Black and White Picture
Is there a trend toward black and white Profile Pictures?
I would appreciate your comments regarding this issue.
Picture courtesy of Twitter, 2008.
Interesting that you’ve heard such a variety of comments on your profile photos. I guess I don’t give it much thought. My rules of thumb are that your profile photo should reflect who you’re trying to be on Twitter (or wherever), and for maximum impact on relationship building should let people see your eyes. I think B/W is just as effective as color, depending on your goals. See @jenniferwindrum for a b/w photo that I think works well.
Susan
Very Crazy subject! Interested in people’s opinions. I think Jennifer’s black and white profile looks fine to me.
All good feedback! I would say that no matter what you do or how you do it you will always have some that will find something wrong (in their opinion) with whatever it is that you are doing. You know what they say about opinions….everyone has one! Keep up the great work Brent!!
Gary
People have felt very strong about this issue. I was taken back a bit by some of the comments I received.
Brent
Interesting look into Twitter profile pictures. I don’t mind black and white images as long as they are well done. I have found that I don’t like profile pictures that have really large Twibbons on them. Twibbons are great to show support for a cause or maybe even a conference logo, but a majority of the time I want to see an undistorted photo.
Elizabeth
Great Point! I really think the profile picture is going to be a big issue in the future because we do not know what type of impression we truly are leaving with people who read our posts. I agree twibbons do get in the way, especially if they are left on the picture for a long time. I agree, short-term publicity is good, long-term loses its effectiveness. Great comment