Do freaky avatars freak you out?

Vot, bubbeleh – you don’t like Penguins?

There have been one or two – haven’t noticed any lately. However, I will admit that the fuzzy cat picture does freak me out a little. Hence my recent question about it.

Yes they do. I’m very sensitive to the avatars—not that I wouldn’t read a post simply because of an avatar. But the color, the texture and the consistency of the avatar can either attract or repel me. As a side note, there are times when I look at the Community Feed and am struck by how beautiful certain avatars look together—or how awful certain combos are.

BULLY!

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard That’s carrying a big stick!

“I won’t mention names, of course, but I’m sure you know who I mean. Or perhaps you see them differently.”

I’m sure we don’t. We need names!

Some make me laugh. Some gross me out. People are weird sometimes.
I try not to base my opinion of a certain Jelly on their avatar of choice.
I just stick with using me own face as an avatar.

There are some avatars that my first reaction when seeing the tiny picture was WTF is that? Sometimes I’ll think they are something offensive or crude or just plain too surreal for words. Then when I saw the larger pictures they made sense.

Usually I was wrong about what I thought something was. But every now and then I see the bigger pic on the profile and think “Oh… that IS what I thought it was…” and only once or twice did the pic end up being even worse than what I thought it was.

I suppose mine might be one of those that needs to be opened up bigger to see what it is, and even then you might not be able to figure it out.
Kind of like me, a bit obscure.

It doesn’t look offensive does it?

I’m trying to think of some freaky ones… other than wundy’s mapass I’m drawing a blank.

@wilma I knew what yours was right away, but only because I am a huge fan of fairy tale tree houses.

@wilma Everyone’s avatar in this thread is freaky. I think the very nature of avatars is freaky. :P

I’m starting to see Wundy’s mapass even on pages when it isn’t there.

There are some that gross me out. There are some that I am really tired of. There are some the I love.

When I was new, I knew the jellyfish pics were the site default ones, but I didn’t know that the little black cat icon was one too. I very briefly thought that all of the little black cat icon posts were all the same person.

“Why is this crazy guy posting supporting two very different opinions on the same thread?.. Oh now he’s arguing with himself.. Oh.. oh.. never mind..”

Yes. There’s one that isn’t actually freaky – when you look at the full sized picture, it’s just a self-portrait, very nice – but when condensed, it looks (to me??) like a mutilated baby doll. And once I’ve seen, I can’t unsee… But yeah, if the avatar is giving me the creeps, it makes it hard to build a relationship with that person, because all I want to do is get away from the avatar.

“You feelin lucky punk…..well, do ya?”

is my avatar freaky? Ravens rock.

But yeah, some can be freaky, deranging, or…they can conjure a lot of things in me. But it never has a strong enough impact that would stop me from getting to know a person. Avatars can say a lot about people I guess, but in my experience, nearly not enough to define a person through one’s interpretation of an avatar.

@wilma Haha, when looking at your avatar on the site, at first I thought it was a picture of this guy. Then I clicked your profile and saw how wrong I was. XD

Vot @marinelife – you don’t like Penguins?

@janbb Don’t be silly – penguins are for everyone.

Yes. There are some that simply offend my sensibilities. This is not to say (necessarily) that they are inherently offensive, only that they are truly ugly by my standards of aesthetics. In some cases I’m sure they’re meant to be, and the user doesn’t care about being offensive. That’s a warning to me right there.

And there is one that bugs me so much that every time I see it appear in a thread, I leave. I used to tolerate it, but I’m just so tired of seeing it that I don’t any more.

Maybe it is stupid and shallow, but none of this is real. I don’t allow myself such petty prejudices in my real-world interactions. Here, indulging my little visual prejudices and instantaneous aversions doesn’t hurt anybody; I just quietly go my way.

On the other hand, if someone did turn up at work, say, or ring my doorbell wearing a face like some of these avatars, chances are I would not be overly friendly.

@Aethelflaed Indeed; they have even been known to give research advice.

Not at all, it’s just a small picture.

@janbb Just one of the many reasons penguins rock!

There have been a few that I’ve seen where I think to myself, “Is this person trying to make us not like him/her or trying to make us be afraid or disgusted?” and I can’t figure out why anyone would want to be on a social site, such as this one, and present an image that is off-putting.

<—- Poor little guy :(

No.

@Lightlyseared—ack what IS that thing?

@Symbeline your link didn’t work for me, I’m curious.

@AshLeigh‘s avatar scares the hell out of me.

*shiver *

@wilma Does this one work?

http://static.zerochan.net/full/10/20/298510.jpg

My eyesight is so bad that it’s rare I can tell what an avatar is. Most of them are just some sort of vague coloured shape to me.

I don’t think it’s stupid or shallow @zensky. They each personify the individual. Some I love. The ones I don’t like much I don’t really look at. I can’t think of any that I find any offensive.

@keobooks an alien(breed)

If you think this avatar is freaky, you should see some of the others I’ve used from time to time.

Yeah, mine’s pretty freaky. :)

I’ve really never been bothered by an avatar, or connected the nature of the avatar to the nature of the person. I just figure people enjoy different images. Oh, except one… it was really gross, and the guy was a troll.

As a manager, though, I have had to ask several people to change their avatars to something less offensive (safe for work, in other words).

Sheese! I guess I’m the odd man out here. I actually like them all. I like that everyone here has a freedom of expression in their avatar. I like that some jellies change often and some don’t ever change..
Yes @HungryGuy, when I finally realized what your avatar was, I found it to be very freaky. But it is an expression of you.:-)

Yes. One in particular causes me to look away. Yuck!

Wow, now I’m really curious to know which freaky avatars some of you are talking about.

yes

@dappled_leaves Yeah, me too.

@rebbel , you are pure evil! Ack! Get that thing away! It’s going to eat us all!

@XOIIO, yeah, my face scares a lot of people. ;D

Yes. There are a couple of avatars I wonder why the person has picked something so off-putting, almost as if they are doing some psychological trick “I will pick an avatar so disgusting and angry you will reject me as a person, therefore confirming my secret beliefs.”

My avatar is always selected by female request

Haha! Love it, @rebbel.

Oh God! The Horrible Gnashing Teeth! AHHHHHHHHH

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought You always have the awesomest avatars.

^<blush>

I’m curious as to who has these offensive, disturbing, disgusting, and viscerally horrifying avatars now… It’s probably a bad sign that it’s not immediately obvious to me.

I can’t really think of any freaky avatars off the top of my head, either. I hope my photo wasn’t the one that looked like a mutilated baby doll at thumbnail size.

Nope @Symbeline it doesn’t work for me.

I think it’s natural to associate the avatar with the person (at least marginally and subconsciously). I’ve found that avatars that have been around for quite a while are a bit annoying (especially if the person’s posts beside them are in perpetual contrast to my own opinions)

I get tired of my own avatar after about a month.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Yeah, me too. Many have their different ideas of offending and disgusting, but I shame myself in not being able to pick out stuff that’s offending and disgusting. also your avatar won’t stop lookin at me funny

@Symbeline I think you should be nervous – it looks like he’s loaded for bear.

Well, now, now so what’s wrong with Speedy!!!!!!!! You got something against a mouse? Huh? Huh?

:D

You guys are scaring me. I need a more powerful avatar to protect myself.

@keobooks That freaked me right the fuck out.

@keobooks I love your old one! Come back, please!

Don’t worry, I’ll change it back soon. Once the novelty wears off or I accidentally freak myself out with it, it will be gone.

I just found this image by accident while I was looking for something completely different.

You know how every once in a while, you do a google search and you get 10 or 11 things that make sense and relate to what you are looking for. Then you get a few hits that are somewhat off but you can understand why they came up. Then you get one or two hits that are “WTF? Why did THIS thing come up?” This image came up in a search I was doing, and that was my reaction when I saw it.

I don’t think there’s an avatar that actually freaks me out or offends me. I don’t care for some of them, but meh, whatever.

I really love my Nuclear Kitteh avatars. They make me giggle.

@WillWorkForChocolate I love your avatar.

@WillWorkForChocolate I second that emotion.

I can’t remember ever feeling uncomfortable with anyone’s avatar here on Fluther.

Now I really want to know who’s avatar gives you the heeby jeebies!

@keobooks That avatar kicks every single ass in the world.

To my aging eyes, the thumbnail version of @NostalgicChill’s avatar looks like one of those creepy steampunk characters with lenses on their eyes. I was astonished the first time I saw it full-sized.

my mind plays a trick on me with that one, too @thorninmud. ;)

@keobooks and @janbb I’m glad you like it, but @adirondackwannabe said it “weirds him out”, so I changed it just for him. silly giggle

I was fine until Chocolate showed me her pussy.

@Adirondackwannabe Oh my… the images that are in my head now… LOL!

I like the one…well, you know which one, @WillWorkForChocolate . It has a scarf. It’s warm and fuzzy.

@JilltheTooth I’m finally starting to learn that your avatar isn’t a sea turtle. The small version really looks like a sea turtle to me.

I’ve heard “breakdancing baby”.... I just always thought he looked like a cute dog… I just can’t see Sea Turtle. But hey, that’s too cute to argue with!!! And my left foot is in there, too!

I definitely don’t see a break dancing baby.

Me either. Jellies be crazy!

^Or high ;)

I Fluther almost exclusively on my iPhone, so I can only see the avatars small. If I can’t figure out what they are in 30 seconds at that size, I mentally dismiss them. It’s a biproduct of being a graphic designer and the old “if I can’t make out your logo clearly on a business card, it’s not a good logo” rule.

As such, I have no recollection of any being “offensive” as they probably didn’t read well small.

Ironically, I don’t think mine reads well small.

@cprevite I agree, they could be the same size on the iPhone, especially on the profile page.

There aren’t any.

Wanna bet?

You’re on.

Oh, dear. I’m afraid of where you two are going with this.

I like where this is going.

I don’t get freaked out by much. :)

I was trying to work but this sounds like more fun.

Fuck work. This thread is where issat, yo!

i’m fluthering from the tub and trying not to drip water everywhere. XD

i’m waitin’. :)

Whoa, you Fluther in the tub? Way to celebrate Fluther’s watery theme! ^^

@Mama_Cakes let me know who wins. I’ve PMed you two scary ones.

I like freaky shit. Honestly, I had a glimpse and they don’t freak me out.

There is a weird jelly name that freaks me out. I sent you a pm.

Oh come on. No PMs. Share the Freak!

The only truly weird name has to do with Jeff Goldblum, and she’s nice and explained the meaning behind it so I am not freaked out by it. The rest are just curiosities. But those avatars I sent you…. oy.

@Adirondackwannabe It’s not nice to single out a jelly here. They haven’t posted in this thread so I can’t allude to them. PM me if you like.

@zensky Understand. That’s the classy way to go.

I’m finding out that I’m more of a freak than I originally thought..

Helloooo.

I freaked myself out, but not the way I thought I would. I forgot I changed my avatar, and I looked in a thread and couldn’t see any of my posts so I assumed I got a ton of posts modded into oblivion.

I am sooo glad to see the old “you” back. :D

Whew! me too!

aaah I liked the other avatar

I wonder if my creepy-crawly avatar has freaked anyone out yet. Apologies to any chilopodophobes here.

I think it’s cute, @Bent. I have no idea why, though.

@Bent It’s not my favorite, but I won’t hold that against you. :)

@Bent I turned around in my office this past Fall and saw a wild looking thing on my wall. I put it in a plastic bag and then asked fluther what the heck it was. It was creepy and beautiful at the same time. It was a house centipede. I let it go outside.

@wilma: If you held it against him, it would likely tickle.

@Bent wow, I learned a new word. Thanks :) And no, it doesn’t freak me out.

@cprevite tickle wouldn’t be the word that comes to my mind. Terrible is more like it.

Clearly the creepiest one is of the penguin reading a book. It’s obviously a sign that penguins are alien life forms learning all they can about us humans before wiping us out and sticking what they learned into the annals of history.

@King_Pariah wasn’t that supposed to be mice? (at least according to Douglas Adams)

heh, heh, heh – rubs flippers together in glee!