Are you the 'face' of your blog?
Imagine your blog is like the front door to your house. When the door is opened we expect to see a smiling face welcoming us in or at least willing to accommodate our query.
Now imagine that the front door is never opened and instead you talk to a voice through an intercom. From the tonal range you can guess whether the person on the other end is male or female but we're not given any clues as to their age, height, body language or facial features.
It has a similar feeling as talking to the priest in a confessional booth. Impersonal. Not relational.
When you're talking through an intercom your mind is trying hard to assemble a jigsaw picture of who you're talking to. And your mind can make some pretty large assumptions which are more often than not, completely devoid of the true picture.
I'm not sure about you, but I struggle to get past this barrier. If I stumble upon a blog that has no picture of the author I'm less likely to stay and strike up a conversation. I like to see who I'm talking to and being able to see a 'face' gives me some reassurance that a person is behind the content and not some automated process.
Furthermore, a picture on your blog can add a high level of branding. Why? Because in the blogging world - YOU are the brand.
How often in comments do you see a picture of someone and instantly recognise them as the author of [insert bog name here]? And, if you consistently see a picture turn up it will intrigue you to search out who this person is and what they're on about.
Photos of 'real' people is what propels social marketing tools like MyBlogLog because we crave connection with another human being.
On the flipside, if you don't have a photo of yourself on your blog, you're allowing your readers to make their own assumptions which in most cases won't be great. You become an 'intercom blog' that forces people to make their picture of you and often this will come out terribly wrong.
Do you agree? Or, do you think it doesn't matter if blogs have pictures or not? Do you have a picture on your blog and if so, why? If not, why not and do you plan to add one anytime soon?
I'd love to hear to your thoughts...
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Comments
I've struggled with how much personal information, including photos, to reveal, Stuart. I wonder if more women than men have concerns about privacy and security on the Web. Several of the Austin bloggers (female) protect not just images of themselves but their real names, assuming pseudonyms or initials for their blogs.
Such protection can be a smart move if you don't want to worry about your boss, future boss, or creepy ex-boyfriends finding your posts, which---let's face it---are filled with more personal information than we often realize.
You're right that a personal photo helps to make a blog seem friendly. After much deliberation, I recently put a photo on my About page, rather than my home page. But a friendly and engaging style of writing matters more, ultimately, than a flattering photo in whether I return to a blog or comment on it.
Posted by: Pam/Digging | June 1, 2007 10:46 PM
Good points Pam. The security and privacy issue is a big one. I never mention my children's names on my blog or in emails for that very reason.
However, for those who don't have any serious security risks I'm remiss to know why they wouldn't post a picture of themselves?
Your comment about returning if the author/ and or content is engaging is also a good one and I too have found this to be true on occasion. However, I would state that they would have to be "darn" good to hold my attention past the first post without knowing that it was a real person behind the blog.
Thanks again for the great comment Pam.
Posted by: Stuart | June 1, 2007 11:22 PM
I agree, Stuart. Ditto telling us where the blogger is located.
Posted by: Susan Harris | August 27, 2007 5:01 PM