Why Your Twitter Avatar Is Important

It seems like such a little thing, but I have to tell you that the avatar – the picture or image – that you use for your Twitter profile can make a fair bit of difference.

In my case, my avatar (which is also what I use on my personal page on Facebook and my bio page here on the site) is a photo that my cousin Wendy took while we were flying in her Piper Cub over the Great Salt Lake. It wasn't anything elaborate at all: she just held up the camera and took a snapshot of the two of us (I was in the back seat) while we were buzzing along in her plane, "Flip."

But that silly picture is one of my all-time favorites of me (and, like many, I suppose, there aren't many photos of me that I like much), because I think it really speaks to who I am inside. I was having a blast, doing something that I've always loved (flying), but hadn't been able to do in years, and it just clicked.

"So, what's your point, Mr. Adventure?"

Well, my point is this: you wouldn't believe how many comments and questions I've gotten from people on Twitter (less so on Facebook) about that photo! And when people ask you things, that opens another opportunity for you to interact with them, which is what Twitter, Facebook, and other social media is about.

That pic has opened discussions with pilots, spouses and friends of pilots, people who just wondered what the heck I was doing, somebody who wanted to know where I got those really expensive $10 sunglasses or that colorful jacket (it actually belonged to my cousin, and I should've swiped it from her – I really liked it!), what those funny white things were on the side of my head, what was in the background, etc.

So just keep that in mind when you pic your avatar. It's another thing you can use to generate interest or curiosity from other people without saying a word.