Profile Image

You need to have a profile image.

So, why don’t you have one, weirdo?

I’m not talking about businesses trying to sell to customers. I don’t give two shits about money-making psychology. And I’m not talking about companies representing themselves via logo rather than face. I get why they do that, and it makes sense.

Nope.

I’m talking about normal people like you. Or like me. Or like my sister, or my hubz, or your uncle, or your friend. Just… folks. Individuals who wake up in the morning and post a status update about how they haven’t had any coffee yet, and who then proceed to tell us how their day is shaping up; what they are having for lunch now that they are on Day 3 of their new diet; how much laundry got washed; how they feel about the controversial topic of the day; and how much work they didn’t accomplish thanks to social media.

There are several reasons for wanting to avoid posting an image of yourself, but only a few I find valid.

These two pass muster.

At least they have SOMETHING as a profile image.

1. Funny-ness is okay.
One of my friends is a conspiracy theorist, so his profile image is currently big foot. In the past it has been an alien. He changes it out periodically, and it always fits his fun personality. Sometimes he even lets us see his actual mug. He ain’t a bad looking guy.

2. Privacy is okay-ish.
Another of my friends is a paranoid nutball, so he thinks posting his personal image might make it easier for people to find him – he has been known to use the image of a chimpanzee as his profile picture, but he changes it out periodically, too. He says he doesn’t want people to know what he looks like. Mostly I think he’s cray-cray.

But when I think about it from the perspective of someone who is trying to keep private, I hesitate to say I disapprove completely of his decision to forego a profile pic. Maybe he has some stalker-assed girlfriend who wants to lick his face or something.

But still… I’m not entirely convinced, so I’m sitting the fence on this one.

These guys FAIL.

The image remains that light-blue, peg-shaped thing resembling the blank-faced outline of a cartoon person.

Or an egg.

Stupid.

3. Lack of know-how ain’t okay.
Seriously, it’s just not. If you can’t use the googlez to figure shit out, you probably shouldn’t be online interacting with people. But, okay, maybe you’re an old person who hasn’t managed to keep up with technology. Fine. So ask someone for help. It’s just not hard to change out the generic profile image with a personal one. If I can do it, you can do it. I’m not exactly a rocket scientist over here.

4. Hipster disinterest ain’t okay.
If you’re too awesome to display an image of yourself, fucking get offline, turd.

This advice is universal.

I’m referring mostly to and , as those are the two social media platforms of which I am most familiar. But I think it’s fairly true, across the board, that you should at least have SOME kind of image representing you, even if it’s not your own sweet face. Blank avatars are annoying and unnecessary.

Stop it.

• Do you bare your face in your profile image?
• What other reason might there be to avoid displaying a profile pic?