Avatars

I love avatars, you get to used to them and can instantly recognise folk on twitter, facebook etc although sometimes when a person changes their avvie it can do my head in.

But some avatars jump out so much more to me. Let me explain why.

The avatars used on twitter are a perfect example to use, they very small squares 73 x 73 pixels only, and trying to get your image to be recognisable and look like a work of art is a very hard thing, but some people have managed it. A lot of the people who follow me and who I follow on twitter seem to do the plain ole head shot in the centre of the image, which works but looks kinda boring, others have taken images using their 1 mega pixel camera phone and they look grainy and bad. Some peoples images are far to dark and you can hardly make out the person at all, and then lastly we have the cartoon avatar which does not do your personality any favours at all.

I have picked out my favorite 5 avatars from the 1300+ people I follow, I have chosen these because they are so engaging and make me want to get to know the person more, they are all of females but I can honestly say that I could not find one engaging male avatar, sorry.

So here they are.

@suttonhoo



@kittynel



@kehoeser



@_Leva_



And lastly

@PRsarahevans


I dunno what it is about this image I love but this is by far the best avatar I have seen by an individual ever, it goes against all the rules that an avatar should be, but it works so well.

So there you have it maybe you will look though your own followers and spot some folk I have missed out on, and hopefully through the 5 I have picked you can understand why I love these little squares so much.

Changes

Sorry Shan for being allusive!!

It's been a mad few weeks...have handed in my notice at my job and heading back to Ireland. Some may think I'm mad but would you believe three opportunities have already rear their heads. Now none may come of any of them but my self esteem has been done wonders!

I've been reading tweets from Zig Ziglars son on Twitter and at times I've wondered did he know me, sign up for his tweets if you can, you won't be disappointed.

What am I looking forward to...being a student part time for a while, catching up with friends and having a rest. The last year has been tough, mentally and emotionally but am out the other end. Bring it on!

TW'ELEBS

I'm not sure how all the writers here on 49 met but I'm thinking the common denominator was Twitter. Those of us who are t'heads got on there to either meet new people, network with peeps in or out of their industry or find a bride from Thailand. Whatever floats your boat, right? For me I wanted to use it as a network tool but as it happens met some cool people from all over both in and out of my field.
I came across this article in the LA Times last week about actors who use twitter to 'talk' to their fans. I know there are a bunch of celeb twitterers out there and this was confirmed to me when my missus was reading one of her celeb rag mags last night and they had an article about some of these peeps. Ashton and Demi, John Mayer, Lance Armstrong, Jimmy Fallon, whoever else. I couldn't be bothered getting up and getting the mag now but you get my drift.
Now, I wouldn't be caught dead reading one of these mags because I have soooo much more important shit to be doing BUT for research purposes I 'glanced' through it. It took longer than I thought. Lots o' pictures though!
Anyway, these folks have 10, 20, 30 thousand followers so I guess for them it keeps them in touch with their fanbase and it is free market research to see how their latest movie or album is being received. As for the followers it makes them fell like the celebs are talking to them when they tweet and makes them feel accessible, I guess.
Here in LA, in particular celebs are so revered and idolised that they become more like untouchable gods so with Twitter, I think it makes them more human and 'normal'. If they tweet that they're stuck in traffic on the 405 (freeway) people can relate to that especially if they're also stuck on the 405. For me I love the interaction with new (interesting) people. I'm not looking to be one of 43,684 followers whereby you'll never have a direct conversation with them. I could care less really. Not putting anybody down but for me, I want some interaction.
I thought it was interesting to see quickly Twitter is hitting the mainstream. Apparently, Twitter had 2.6 million users in Jan. up from 178,000 last year. Pretty remarkable. I'm sure George Clooney having 1.3 mil followers has helped!
BTW, APPARENTLY Britney's new tour is going to be "off the hook" and John and Jen are celebrating their 1st anniversary, ahh!

Blogs I like

I am a Lurker. Every day before i even start reflecting Deep Thoughts i check on Blogs. Here are the ones i love and read daily-

Una Rocks cause its random and full of good music tips
Gastronom -It includes all the foodie Blogs and i can dream of fancy meals i could try and create
Maman Poulet-For all insights especially on current afairs, policy & politics
Cheap Eats-Bargain Alerts Great Site
Panti-Cuase its Panti
Grannymar- Gems of Advice to be gotten here -A must read especially if your a student like myself tips on cooking and cleaning on the cheap!
Unemployed Blog-Recently Discovered this Blog and its excellent
Well Done Fillet-Also a recent Discovery Very Funny
Nialler 9-All good things on Music
Limerick Blogger-For all my Limerick News its excellent
Indie Limerick-Give News on Local Gigs and Reviews
Alexia Golez and Damien Mulley are also in my daily look for random news and links -I also use the very addictive Twitter
So yeah feck now i know where most of the day goes.....