It’s Called FACEBook for a Reason! :)
A picture says a thousand words, would you agree? When you receive incoming Facebook friend requests, I’ll bet the person’s profile picture has a LOT of bearing on your decision to accept their invite or not. See, one of the great aspects of Facebook is the fact we have the opportunity for our face to show up throughout the platform.
[Right: Sample pics from Top Friends app, one of my favorites to spotlight your peeps.]
Lately, I’ve noticed all kinds of weird – and even downright nasty – profile pics from incoming friend requests. My policy is to hit the ignore button. I don’t mean to judge people or suggest there’s only one way to use Facebook. But, for me, I use the platform almost exclusively for professional networking and business building.
If you too want to optimize your profile and your results on Facebook, I highly recommend you ONLY ever use an attractive headshot of yourself – ideally fairly close up. Remember, your pic appears in a small thumbnail format each time you “leave your footprint” e.g. post on Walls, make Comments, show your Status in your friends’ Home Page etc., so you want your profile pic to look just as attractive in small format as large.
Also, from a metaphysical standpoint, did you know your pic carries a vibrational resonance? Yep, people really do dig your “vibe” – or not – through your pic.
Meantime, for the record, I do not make friends with any of the following folks, as indicated by their profile pic:
- Dogs.*
- Cats.
- Logos.
- Cartoons.
- Graphics.
- Cars.
- Guys on motorbikes.
- People wearing sunglasses.
- Bikini-clad gals.
- Guys with bare torsos.
- Half a head.
- Landscapes.
- Statues.
- People giving me the finger. (Yes, I really just got a friend request from some dude with his middle finger stuck in front of his face. Uh, hello? What planet, sir?)
- Question mark. (The default if you don’t upload a pic).**
Exceptions:
*If you’re a mega dog lover and your profile pic is an attractive shot of you with your beloved doggie.
**If I know someone is very new to Facebook, I may accept them as a friend given they may not yet know how to upload a profile pic.
How about you? How important is someone’s profile pic to you?
UPDATE: I’d like to cite Dr. BJ Fogg‘s blog post Picture Persuasion in Facebook:
…Every upload of a real photo enhances the credibility of Facebook. And it’s precisely this–credibility–that sets Facebook apart from most other social networks…
Your mugshot is the most important element on your Facebook Profile Page, even more important than your name.
Hear, hear!
MARI,
Greetings from rural Australia.
We're all different and use different criteria when making judgements.
I've never discriminated against a person because of their profile picture. Not everyone is attractive and not everyone is photogenic.
But it's also a fact that we cannot help it when we judge a book by its cover. As demonstrated by the previous comments.
In 1992, my partner, who is an architect, and I had our business decimated by the 'recession we had to have' in Australia.
We lost everything. Our home, personal possessions, cars.
We escaped the city lights of Sydney Australia for the rural life of a tiny village in rural Ilford NSW Australia.
Because we had to. We could no longer afford to live in Sydney. We avoided bankruptcy by the skin of our teeth and had to reinvent ourselves where we could afford to live.
And reinvent ourselves we did.
We rose up from the ashes of that recession and built a world wide business living and working from our remote, rural property long before the internet, email, call waiting and a second phone line became available to us in the Australian bush.
And we did it on a shoe string. Starting from a base of deep debt to pay off over time.
We now have a strong online and offline mail order business, no retail distribution and more than 200,000 one-on-one customers in almost every country in the world.
Based on the textile products designed by my partner. Architects can and do design more than buildings.
As a former market research consultant with my own business, my job is to develop the international markets for each product.
Our story is considered to be so amazing, it's been written about many, many times in the Australian press, aired regularly on national radio and been given exposure in international magazines.
And our life in the bush is such a magnet for journalists, we're often included in lifestyle articles because of our achievements.
My business is so identified with rural Australia, that my avatar is a photograph of my 'Peek-A-Boo' tree on my rural property. The blog post I wrote about it several years ago is still clicked on today. And that photo is researched by viewers to Google Images almost daily.
If I've been ignored because of my 'landscape' avatar, I'm not aware of it.
It's my brand. It's why my business attracts so much interest. And is also just as evocative of me as a photograph of my face.
Zappos is one of the most popular entities on Facebook and Twitter. Not many people reject them because they use their logo as their avatar. Ditto for Ezine articles. And so many other graphics based avatars that are deeply connected to a person or a group.
Like you, my pages are all business oriented. So I love to connect with people who are doers and who I can learn from.
People like you.
How do I judge whether I want to be friends with someone?
I take the time to look at their personal page and read their 'Newsfeed'. If I like what they say, I accept an invitation. If I don't, I refuse.
But I don't judge a person by their photograph.
I also have very few Facebook friends. Less than 40. This allows me the time to get to know each of them. And do what Facebook is supposed to be about. Become friends with them.
Thank you, Mari, for allowing me the space to offer a differing point of view.
All the best and take care,
Carol
Carol Jones
Director
Interface Pty Ltd
Designers of The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover
http://www.SimpleSolutionsForDifficultProblems.com
http://www.InterfaceAustralia.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/@ClassyRuralGal
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/CarolJonesLinkedIn
Facebook: http://bit.ly/CarolJonesFaceBook
30th April 2010
You are so right! Thanks for the wake-up call Mari! I removed my little spring sketch and switched it out with a photo. Hope others will do the same!
Agreed. I think this becomes even more of an issue on Twitter. I try to keep my Facebook close friends, but occassional there are some people I have friended, (friends of my friends, people I meet professionally, etc.) that you judge based on what they choose as a profile picture. As we become more intertwined via the social web, we need to become even more aware of what brand we are putting out there for the world to view.
Hi, Mari–
Great post about pictures and first impressions. Two thoughts:
We human beings are primarily a visual species. We get most of our information through our eyes, and first impressions are almost always visual.
Second, I believe that people who put a pleasant, personable pic on their profile are more outer-directed. They’re doing it for others in order that all those others can see them. People who upload snarky, nasty, or irrelevant pics are doing it because it’s fun for them. But if you pay attention, both kinds of pictures are extremely revealing as far as what they’re saying about themselves.
Best, Jay
Hi Mari,
I am so glad you wrote this post. Somehow I thought I was the only one who got annoyed with the photo antics of those who don’t get it that a face- an nice shining friendly-ish face that is somewhat well groomed- is an understood requirement.
I don’t like to befriend question marks and half heads either-to say the least. I do make exceptions but they are rare.
You are right on with the vibe thing. It is so important to my “friend or not” decision as is the photo and profile of everyone I meet.
thanks!
Alexandra
Alexandra Barrett’s last blog post.. Baby Boomer Life: Success and Commitment In The Second Fifty Years
I agree completely Mari. Professional pics are really important for my accepting friend requests. There are some “fun” pics that are great to see, I love to learn about personalities. Ultimately, I gather it depends on your objective in using Facebook.
Great post 🙂
Maria Reyes-McDavis
This is a great post. I could not agree more. The first impression is lasting and since with facebook you cannot see someone’s profile until you are their friend, all you see is their picture, so it better be good or else.
@Emily – great point! I’m all for changing profile pics from time to time – it’s a good way to create visibility in your friends’ News Fees. But for sure it should still represent you well.
@Dr. Mani – thank you! 🙂 And your friendly appealing pic represents you well.
Hey Mari, I so agree although i probably haven’t been too strict about it so far. I hate it when i can’t SEE who i am befriending. There are also those people who constantly change their profile pic ~ although it can be nice to see different pics, your image is part of your beand and people will recognise you more if you keep the same photo for a longer period of time…
Mari, your professional profile photo DID indeed resonate with me – and turned me from stranger to follower, after which the quality of your Facebook content extended this into being a fan… within an hour!
🙂
Dr.Mani