Headers and profiles and sites, oh my!

SUMMARY: Just nonsense about blogs and other websites that need--yes, need!-- photo choices.

Everything that one does online these days demands (yes! demands!) a profile photo. How to choose the look that one wants? Do you want people to like you or not? Do you want them to think you're strange or not?  Do you want them to get a flavor of your personality, or hobbies, or environment, or family, or history? Or not?

I have generic-y photos that I can put anywhere, and mostly do for professional-y things.  Like this one, looking all normal-y (blue/purple tie-dye is normal, right?) surrounded by professional-y-looking grammar books, style guides, and dictionaries. (And professional-y-looking stuffed animals, water bottles, and random professional-y-looking crap. For authenticity.)

Which I can crop down to just get my true essence, of light-hearted professionalism with tie dye, and some books.


But what's the fun of normalcy?

(Side note: OMD, just noticed how long ago I took that photo! I like to think that I look exactly the same, but, eh, I don't. I should take a new one. Or should I go much much older, back to scanned photos from my film camera days? Very professional-y, eh?)

I currently have different profile photos for my Blogger account --which is here--and for my Google account--which I log into to edit my Blogger account. They display really really tiny in chats and stuff -- here's what I see while editing my page (lower left and upper right):

The left one above I created using xxx-ize me sites (such as simpsonize me (no longer exists, sorry), peanutize me, and so on).  Like these:

Plus big yellow dogs.

Plus big blue-merle dogs (wellll... gray. it's the closest I could get with the tool).

Plus kitchen.

Should my profile photo include my dogs?  Like my current Google one-- but, oh, my, the site limitations on cropping often limit what's appropriate.  For example--original photo:

As displayed on my Google account, I have one complete dog, one half dog, and a random dog ear in case someone's goes missing:

(Side note: yep, that's out of date, too, by 3 years and 3 dogs. So, do I need a new one? It's always something.)

And then there's Facebook--  FB simplifies changing the profile and cover photo. Very simple. Too simple. Because that means that they DEMAND, yes, DEMAND to be changed frequently!  For a while, I posted a different shot of me with dogs every week.  Then a different shot of me with some random hat every week.  Then it just became random things at random times. OK, so, if you want to see ALLLLLLL the profile photos I've ever used in my 10 (?) years on facebook-- try this link (you don't have to log in or sign up; just say Not Now and then click on a photo, use arrow keys to skim thru them. Not that intriguing, really).

Then there's the whole thing about header photos! What feel do I want to give my blog as a whole? And what photo looks pretty good wide and short and with space where the heading text isn't hidden by what's in the photo? And am I even capable of taking such photos deliberately? Challenging.

Sometimes things work out OK.  Not too long ago I changed this long-time header photo--

 To this:

Which I just now replaced with this.

Whatchu think?

Do you post profile photos and/or header photos?

    What do you think about when adding a profile photo or header photo?

        Do you have multiple sites that can each have different profiles or headers?

            DO they each have different ones?

                How often do you update each?

                    What ...is your quest? What ...is your favorite color? (oh... sorry... carried away there...)

Demanding, inquiring minds want to know.