While selecting the proper profile picture as a stand-in for your online persona might not be the end all and be all of social media decisions, it certainly says a lot about who you are and will be the first thing that most people see. So how to stand out from the crowds with something other than a well snapped photograph showing you on one of your best coiffed days?
Enter Brooklyn artist Matt Held who turned to Facebook when he lacked inspiration for his latest painting project. What began as a single portrait of his wife’s profile picture has grown into a Facebook group called “I’ll have my Facebook portrait painted by Matt Held” that as of the writing of this piece counts 2,284 members from across the globe and prompted him to start a blog about the project - Portrait Painted. While most of his subjects are chosen at random, once someone has been selected, he peruses their profiles to get a better sense of their personality so that he can approach each work with an additional layer of meaning. Held has a goal of completing 200 works and exhibiting them in a physical gallery when the project is complete.
An excerpt from the Facebook page explains:
With the development of social networking sites, I’ve developed an interest in how people take simple or complex snapshots of themselves, post them to their page as a representation of who they are and what they want people to see. It is an interesting form of control and, in a way, self-preservation. However, there is a strong likelihood that many people who don’t know you will see this photo representation and make passing judgments as to who you may or may not be, much in the same way we make passing judgments on people we see in our neighborhoods every day.
Facebook
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I find the behavioral aspect of people branding themselves via social media networks to be fascinating. As a student at Parsons School of Design I am conducting a research project on the topic of personal branding. I find the concept of how people manipulate their online persona via their profile picture to be an interesting behavior.
What do people on Facebook and other social media networks consider when selecting their profile pictures? How much weight do users place on the role their profile picture plays in forming their online persona? How do people on Facebook think about the whole judgement factor, meaning how people may judge one by what their profile picture is of and looks like? The area of profile pictures alone brings in a lot of different questions and interesting topics of conversation concerning how people interact with social networking sites and how their profiles define who they are.
I find incorporating art into defining visually who people are to be an amazing concept and tool.
It is also intriguing to note to what extent people’s privacy thresholds are when designing their profiles and selecting their profile picture.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:48 pm
“I would have liked to be one of you” by Gregory Chatonsky
Steal statutes and names of your friends on Facebook.
http://incident.net/works/oneofyou/
June 15th, 2009 at 3:51 pm