beebo wrote:why even have one?
There are several reasons. My picture is that of a New England Cotton Tail. Quite a few people here have rabbit avatars. As recently as about a month ago, there was only one. The idividual who has that avatar is well-liked, thoughtful, tough girl, lotsa fun, compassionate, funny--so, to pull her leg a little, several people started to display rabbit avatars. This is actually my second, as i started with an arctic hare. Many people have now gone through more than one rabbit avatar. So, avatars are a form of play--grown ups get to play, too, ya know.
It is also an excellent identification marker when reading a thread. You come to recognize an avatar as one recognizes a face. In scrolling through the hundreds of thousands of posts here, it helps to have such markers. Even when someone changes, everyone else adjusts fairly quickly.
The combination of the avatar and one's perception of the member also combine, and an extended playful metaphor develops. One member recently referred to a post of mine in which i pointed out that someone else didn't really care what people at the site think, he just wants to post his "message," get it out, and the more popular the site the better. He responded: "Rabbits words are iron." Meaning, he understood, and he agreed. Referring to me as rabbit (or doggie, in the times when previously my avatar was always a dog picture), is simply a part of the metaphor of personal communication here.
In another thread, one of our valued members, Soz, spoke of cliques, and the value of this site for not succumbing to "cliquism" (term i just used, not hers). Her point is well taken, and when one has an avatar which people can quickly recognize, the period of adjustment to the "society" here goes more quickly and comfortably. You got to the top of a page, and you say to yourself: "Oh, there's Kicky, i like his style, what's he written?" The new member quickly gains identity which facilitates participation.
For many of us, this site represents more than simply a place to pick things up and to drop them off. The avatar is an integral part of the entire, very typically human community which arose here, just as such "societies" can be expected to arise in any successful site.
! dlowan comes across as a very nice, thoughtful deep person witht a frivolous fun side - a lot of people like her - that isn't a clique.