Why dosen't the Giant Bomb community use real profile pictures?

I dunno, Keldorn is much more interesting than some dude's face doncha think? I have traveled many portions of the internet, but I still feel weird posting my picture because uhh... who cares?

Because mine is Kyle Katarn and Kyle Katarn is awesome..

Because Ginchiyo tears dudes up with lightning. Also, she's bringing the bling.

I did.

I think it's because the GB community members are (or I believe it to be) older on average than most other online communities. I don't really have any facts to back this up, but you kinda get the feeling by just reading posts. Not only do we have fewer people using their own pictures, we have fewer lunatics just going completely apeshit on the forums. You see the same over at Tested.

Now, why would this point to less people using their own pictures as avatars? I can only speak for myself, but the older I get, the less effort I put into pictures of myself. There's a certain effort that goes into making a decent profile pic, and at age 34 it's getting pretty hard to take a picture you're somewhat satisfied with. Being reminded of your age sucks. That's why I've smeared all my mirrors with lard and don't take self portraits anymore.

I suspect the specifics of my argument would vary for each individual, but I think that age is at the root of a lot of the reasons. Or maybe aging just freaks me out more than most. Who knows..

Because I'm totally a powerpuff girl ripoff

@Napalm said:

@Brendan said:

I use a picture of myself. I figured that since I jumped on the site early enough to get my actual name as my username, I might as well go whole hog and put my face up as well.

Wow, that's really you? I totally hate you now.

Your hate only puts more gel into my hair. Actually I have long hair now so it's not an accurate representation. Picture B-tier Spanish language pop star and you've got the right idea.

I'm insulted that you think I'm not a sentient cup of chocolate milk. Also, I don't look good in pictures.

That's boring, and we're ugly.

This is plenty of face time. More than enough.

Because Prequel is awesome.

I honestly don't care. If you wanted to find out who I am, it's pretty easy if you have the time or interest to do so. My shit's out there.

I just think showing Snake Plissken or Dark Helmet is more entertaining than my ugly mug, so I choose to do that.

I think it's weird that people use a their real picture. It's not a dating site.

Because Kermit the Frog is who I aspire to be. He has friends and is popular, wise, and at the same time is an introvert. He also has a sarcastic since of humor.

im all the people in my profile picture!

The anonymity of the internet allows us a greater degree of identity management than we get face-to-face. Avatars seem pretty entrenched in most forum cultures I've encountered; I wouldn't call this ratio a Giant Bomb-specific phenomenon.

How do you know that this isn't a picture of me?

I've never bothered to take pictures of myself, and I'm not about to start now. If you have a picture of me, sure, I'll consider using it. It'll also be really weird if you did.

I don't know what's up with you guys but that's really me.

I've got my sexy-ass face on my profile. I just always felt that avatars are more suited to being abstract embodiments of the person they're representing, either by using fictional characters as a shorthand, or some other method. The Happy Mask salesman is more efficient at embodying who I am as a person than what I physically look like. Right off the bat, you know a game that I like and a character that struck a chord with me.

I got a pretty face, maybe a girl will notice me and message me. That's my plan for finding a girl that loves video games! :p. That and I lost my batman shirt and I miss it, last time I was wearing it was in that pic.

@MordeaniisChaos said:

@Slag said:

Because the risk of potential bad stuff outweighs the benefit of what good stuff might happen from doing so.

Also that's boring.

And Dinosaurs!

I don't think there are any good or bad things really. A serial killer isn't going to track you down based on 1000 pixels worth of your face. Much easier ways for me to fin.. us to... for them to find you!

In all seriousness, unfortunately you are mistaken about this.

I can speak from personal experience that if someone really wants to get you online they certainly can. Whether that be to stalk, sue, steal your identity, potential employers background checking etc whatever, bad things definitely happen online with regularity and it's happened to me as well as several people I know.

you're right that a pic of yourself is likely not enough by itself to cause a problem , but why make it any easier for the evil-doers out there to connect the dots about you?

Even though the odds of any of this happening to you is low (unless you are unlucky like me), That was my point there's little to be gained, but a lot to be potentially be lost.

People wouldn't want to see this hideous face.

I think the pics that people choose to use for their avatars show more about their interests and personalities than their real faces could.

I just am still at an age where I look pretty different pretty often, so it just doesn't make a whole lot of practical sense.

Helps that the staff use, at best, fan art representations of themselves.

internet tradition

Well the camera that was on a timer was going to take my picture but before it done so I shouted out "Dragonzord!" and thus morphed into the Green Power Ranger.

Because a profile picture that is not of me will actually tell you more about me.

I don't know what you're talking about. Are you saying I'm not really a balloon?

I use a picture of myself. I didn't think I would post that often in the forums (and I kind of don't), so I just uploaded an actual picture. Granted, it's a very old picture that was taken back in high school using the "Comic" filter in Photo Booth, but it's still me. Minus the spikiness of the hair, I still look basically the same. Which is to say like a 14 year old.

Note: I am (as of now) 22.

I find this to be true on every forum I've ever been to. 
 
My avatar is far more recognizable than a picture of my face; it's colorful and stands out more.

Cus I feel super weird having my actual face beside my post. Also I feel super weird looking at other peoples actual faces next to their posts.

I want to be able to insult people with the anonymity of the internet, plus i'm fat.

Because you look like a douche posing for a photo for an internet forum.

Because what I look like is irrelevant and I don't care what anyone that I talk to here looks like. It's not facebook.

Because selfies are the worst

It's an internet forum. Your default options aren't pictures of you, they're pictures related to the forum subject. Most people will riff off of that.

Because this bird guy looks a lot cooler than my dumb face.

I find this forum very disgruntling.

I don't post images of myself on the internet. The Illuminati and the Inter-dimensional lizard shapeshifters will telepathically feed off my energy.

Because you cannot use non-worksafe imagery openly in this forum.
 
So I dressed up for the (now kinda old) pic on my profile page.

I use my real picture in my profile although I've been meaning to update that picture because its years old but I'm just...lazy.

Because chemtrails!

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Because the potential negatives outweigh the potential positives. It was already linked earlier, but there is a thread where plenty of us have posted pictures. We use avatar pictures that aren't us for the same reason we use names that aren't our real names; we want some degree of anonymity and different identity.

I don't want crazy women to figure out who I am. You only need one stalker-ish situation to happen to you before you learn and become way more cautious.

@Picard said:

I don't post images of myself on the internet. The Illuminati and the Inter-dimensional lizard shapeshifters will telepathically feed off my energy.

But.... That is an image of you...

I have a big baldy head and the light from a camera would reflect off and destroy any resultant image that were to be produced from said picture taking. There is a picture of me in my images, but wear sunglasses if you are gonna attempt to view it.

Nice watch LOLZ

That's why.

Also, I did.

I think it's weird that people use a their real picture. It's not a dating site.

@leebmx said:

Pretty sure there is a forum thread somewhere with people posting their real picture.

I just think that it is a site about video games where avatars and alternate personalities rule supreme. Stands to reason people would have random shit as their profile picture.

Also, in a weird way, I find I am suspicious of people that put their real picture up. Its probably not fair, it jutssmakes me wonder why they do it - why do you want everyone to see your face?

Good question. I just like to have a face attached to the words I suppose.