Using Your Photo As An Avatar - Page 4

i just thought people would like to see an actual picture of me giving a school vision screening! lol

You know, my better half and I have come up with the theory of how you won the pole on Sunday: it's because you weigh about 100-150 lbs less than Tony Stewart and most other drivers, so your car was lighter and it was easier for you to go faster.

Seriously...we had a new grad show up and it was very easy to identify her as being from AN because she used her picture as her avatar, along with copious amounts of detail about where and when she was working. It was all I could do to hold my tongue and not tell her I've read all about her...and was a little apprehensive of her because of what I read :/ But I behaved and said nothing. Jury's still out on her performance though.

If you truly wish to use a personal pic as your avatar and/or post real names, details, etc...well, IMO you're an adult (or a reasonable facsimile) and will have to deal with the consequences. Just remember that the Internet is forever and once something is posted on it it doesn't necessarily go away: even if you take it down immediately after posting, there's a good chance that it's already been cached/copied/forwarded and out of your hands. It's also not as anonymous as you realize.

As for myself, I just assume that people know or could figure out who I am, so I don't post anything that I wouldn't own up to saying in person....doesn't mean I'll make it easy for people to figure out who I am though. I will confess to loving wool, being as pale as a sheep during the wintertime, and that the sheep has better hair days than I do.

I agree - Facebook has a lot to do with it. I increasingly see people question why more places don't have a real name policy. This includes on forums with subjects that are sensitive or potentially controversial. Or people commenting on such sites using their (presumably real name) facebook account. I have to wonder why these people want this information to be so easily accessible to a job interviewer (potential date, family member, etc.).

My dietary choices, my religion, my political opinions, the way I choose to raise my kids... all subjects I don't need influencing a job interview. It's bad enough that google will turn up angsty poetry I wrote as a teen 15 years ago

I'll probably dump this account soon and start a new one. My name isn't exactly rare, but combined with the school I went to and the area I live now, it's pretty identifiable. In fact, dumping the account to avoid the association with that school is more important than the name! (Nothing wrong with the school, but it does serve as identifying information since I live in a different area now.)

This reminds me, I think social networking sites of any kind are dangerous - patients and employers do search for those kinds of things, and any little slight can affect your nursing career - or your professional image.

I have had THREE people who asked me if I was so-and-so on AllNurses. I give them the confused quizzical kind of look and say "allnurse? What is that?" And when they tell me all about it, I tell them Ill make a note of it and go float around on AN to check it out. hahaha.

I also noticed that several of my nurse friends have posted on their FB walls, cartoons, etc that have come directly from this site. I know full well, if I really wanted to figure out who they were here I could very easily do it. If they added a picture that was of personal nature (their kids, dog, themself) it would cement it for me.

Hense I always cringe when I see posters with their real picture on AN as their avatar.

I was able to figure out the identities of some of my classmates who were on here due to a thread pertaining to my nursing school cohort. They did not have pictures up. No big deal, the conversation was pretty harmless. I also realized that my former classmates could figure me out by my username alone, because I'm the only one who rock climbs. Yikes!

I remember when Facebook first came out and all the profiles were public. I was living in the dorms, and MANY people would put their address AND ROOM NUMBER on their profile. And I admit I did this for a month or two! Stupid stupid stupid. My neighbor ended up getting a stalker. Sometimes, I think I should just put fake information up. People who tell me I'm a liar, that I don't really live in Fiji or whatever, can kiss my ass! Lol

There's paranoid and then there's paranoid. If someone in this computer tech world is going to post something that's going to bite them in the okole, then that's their fault. I see no reason why a person can't use their own pic if they want to...I like it. My avatar is used in all forums I am on and I know people recognize me by it. Of course I'm not going to post anything I would regret. I do have another profile but have found that I've never needed it.

As I tell my sons; if you post, print, email, voice mail, social media, post on forums, then write as if the world is watching (unless you have created a profile that can't be connected to you). Don't post anything you wouldn't want the world to see. In fact, my FB page is full of all the wonderful ideas and philosophies of life that I know any future employer would be impressed to see. Oh, and the delete button... nothing gets erased, it just gets rearranged so it appears as if it's gone; it's still there.

I mean seriously...does anyone really think that media sites are private; or any sites for that matter? Gripe all you want but you know how the game is played.

Act accordingly

I guess I'll defend myself here, lol. Long story short, I don't complain about my work in public forums which is where I see a lot of people getting in trouble with posting identifying information about themselves. If you know me outside of this website, great! If that's the case you should know I'm the same person here that I am at work and nothing that I say here should be a surprise to my coworkers, employers, or patients.

Personally I'm thinking of using a picture of one of my co-workers as my avatar. Then I can say all the crap I want and not have to worry. .

In retrospect, having my user name be my first name and job title probably wasn't such a hot idea..... Having a photo of myself as an avatar would really cap it off....