Twitter Avatars

By | October 7, 2009

Twitter default avatarMy friend, Keith Burtis, has a great conversation on his blog about branded avatars on Twitter. The question is whether a company should use a human face or a logo, or both like Scott Monty does at Ford.

Keith makes a great point about corporate accounts with multiple people tweeting, it’s just not possible to include all of their faces, so a logo makes sense.

Chris Brogan begins his list on getting started in social media (well worth the read BTW) with the point:

Take a reasonably decent photo of yourself for an avatar pic. Size it to 100×100 pixels if you can. (most services want this as a default). If you’re shy off the bat, put something more fun than your corporate logo.

I tend to agree with this, but in my case tweeting as @griffintech at work, it makes more sense to use our logo. I do this because people following Griffin on Twitter are following because they want news about new products, contests and promotions. I do my best to create lasting relationships as @griffintech too, please don’t misunderstand my point. It’s just that followers recognize the Griffin logo over my mug.

I also tend to do a fair amount of personal tweeting as @davedelaney (perhaps a tweet brought you here today, welcome!). If I were to use my face as @griffintech it could confuse friends who are following me both as @davedelaney and as @griffintech.

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A bigger issue for me has always been about changing avatars. It drives me crazy when people frequently change their appearance on Twitter. My timeline is cluttered enough as it is for me to not even recognize my friends.

Are you building your personal brand on Twitter? Next time you’re tempted to change your avatar consider how often you see Coke and McDonalds change their logos. Your personal avatar “is” your logo.

What do you think?


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  • georgiacross

    You make a very good point. Perhaps keeping some consistency across multiple social media channels will help with recognition as well. (I'm am guilty of not doing this, but there's always room for improvement.) Thanks for provoking some thought into the topic.

  • http://www.redcanarycreative.com Dani

    I have two accounts…one is a personal account that I use for networking and such. It's very laid back and personal. I have an easy to recognize pic of my face. I think it helps people remember me from events. I know I'm horrible at remembering names (especially now that everyone has a screen name along with a given name) so when I network I write my real name on top and my screen name below to help the association. My company account is slightly different. The avatar for it is the logo bird. I try to stick to following only other company accounts and it definitely has a more professional feel to it. I think this helps separate the social/professional world, yet still lets people know that hey, I'm human too.

  • http://www.defycreative.com defycreative

    I've been thinking about this lately. I think it's good when you can be out and recognize someone from their avatar. I used to think it was better to push my logo more than my face but now I'm not so sure. Although the logo is better looking :-)

  • http://twitter.com/JohnWEllis John W. Ellis

    We are all a brand. From personal to company. Great Post.

    I agree with Joey (defycreative) his logo is better looking!

    -John W. Ellis

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Thanks Georgia. I think it's worth pondering. It's also important to be
    consistent across other SNSs.
    Cheers.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Thanks Georgia. I think it's worth pondering. It's also important to be
    consistent across other SNSs.
    Cheers.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Thanks Georgia. I think it's worth pondering. It's also important to be
    consistent across other SNSs.
    Cheers.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Thanks Georgia. I think it's worth pondering. It's also important to be
    consistent across other SNSs.
    Cheers.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Thanks Dani. I really recommend changing the default Twitter logo bird
    avatar to something original. You mention wanting to let people know that
    you're human, but when I see the default avatar I often question that user's
    account. Many spambots don't change the avatar, so it's something you should
    consider.

    It's smart of you to keep your name and screen name together. Very good
    call.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Ha. Well I'm only half a head, so what do I know? LOL :)

  • http://www.defycreative.com defycreative

    Ouch John! You're not supposed to agree!!

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Thanks John. :)

  • http://www.redcanarycreative.com Dani

    LOL…no…not the twitter logo bird…MY logo bird…as in Red Canary Creative Logo =) My company is called Red Canary Creative and we have a little original illustration of a red canary. That bird is my avatar =)

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    Ha ha! That's right. Sorry about that. I need to stop and breath before I
    reply, eh?
    Cheers.

  • http://www.redcanarycreative.com Dani

    hee hee great posting. see you around!

  • http://twitter.com/DanRMorris Daniel Morris

    If you're familiar with the @Predfans site, you know about the ReTweet Bot. This is an application where “members” send DM's (dm predfans) to the host twitter account and anyone following @Predfans sees those collective tweets. I think that would be a great concept for companies that have several people tweeting. The avatar could be of the main company logo, but the participants could be the company employees. It might even make sense to have employees add a “ribbon”, like the 9/11 ribbon we saw, to their avatar.

    That would accomplish the company logo branding and the “personal relationship” side of the business seeing what the employees tweet.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    That's a good idea Daniel. Thanks.

  • http://twitter.com/DanRMorris Daniel Morris

    If you're familiar with the @Predfans site, you know about the ReTweet Bot. This is an application where “members” send DM's (dm predfans) to the host twitter account and anyone following @Predfans sees those collective tweets. I think that would be a great concept for companies that have several people tweeting. The avatar could be of the main company logo, but the participants could be the company employees. It might even make sense to have employees add a “ribbon”, like the 9/11 ribbon we saw, to their avatar.

    That would accomplish the company logo branding and the “personal relationship” side of the business seeing what the employees tweet.

  • http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

    That's a good idea Daniel. Thanks.