Get Yourself a Gravatar

Have you ever been reading a blog post and seen that some people have pictures next to their comments and some people have the mystery man? Have you wondered how they got there? Those people have gotten themselves a Gravatar.

Some people refer to their photos on-line as avatars and Gravatar stands for “Globally Recognized Avatar”. A Gravatar  is helpful in developing  online presence and relationships. People will remember you with your photo more than just a name when they see you comment on a blog.  The company is owned by Automattic, the WordPress.com people, and they are  big on helping us build on-line communities.

Go to Gravatar and sign up. It will ask you for your e-mail address and then will walk you through uploading a photo from your computer.

While we are on the subject of your photos. . .please don’t use a photo of your dog, child or an inanimate object. Just use your darn head. Its not called a head shot for nothing. And, it’s a good idea to use the same photo on all of your social media sites, including your new Gravatar, so people will start to recognize you from all the the places they may see you online and in person.

Don’t you prefer to see someone’s smiling face than the mystery man?