A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words…

Ah, the infamous “self pic” that we so often come across whenever we visit one of our friends’ profiles on Facebook. Maybe we have even taken part in the epidemic that seems to have been sweeping the country ever since digital cameras suddenly turned us into professional photographers. But on a slightly different note, the picture or pictures that you use to represent you on various social networking forums can reveal a plethora of information to your readers, followers, customers, friends and family as to the kind of person you are as well as the kind of information that your profile might denote.

The Twitter Dilemma:

Regarding the use of pictures, Twitter is a great example of how we do or do not use our photographing skills effectively. For instance, I will often receive an email notification that “Person X is now following you on Twitter”. However, if I see that Person X does not have a profile picture, then I usually don’t even go any further to add them to my followers list. Instead, they are instantly referred to my trash folder. Another situation that is often faced on Twitter is when someone uses their real name (or what appears to be a real name), but then their profile picture is a logo for a business or something that is totally unrelated and/or offensive. In this case, it is then your call as to whether or not they are “follow” worthy.

Choosing the Right Picture:

You wouldn’t think that there would be so much thought that goes into the picture that you choose to represent yourself, but if you are a business owner and you have an online presence, even your personal social networking accounts might come under some scrutiny. Take care to only put up pictures of yourself and/or your company that are relevant (i.e. no drunken pictures of you at last year’s Christmas party, etc.). Choose a picture that is clear, not taken with your camera phone or a two-year old and is somewhat flattering to your appearance. If you cannot seem to find any pictures that describe the aforementioned, then it may be worth it to hire a professional photographer to take your photo. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, and on the Internet…that’s a lot.