Just been having some mindfucks, lately, because I do this. It's not just that the avatar becomes a mental "symbol" synonymous with their name; instead I mentally interpret it as a kind of profile picture. @Parth37955 is a great example of this; when he had his old xianxia avatar I read all his posts in a "From on high" kind of tone; now that he's got gunner chick I usually don't even realize it's him, and instead think its some chick with an aggressive/playful tone. Then when I notice I go "Hahaha waaait what" and my poor little mind does a little snap. This carries through for basically everyone with an avatar. That dude with halloween mercy? Yup. That trollface mask guy? Yup. I always take the tone of the post from the avatar picture. Just curious if this is me being bad at forums, or if it's a widespread phenomenon.
No , unless it's meaningful in some way like the meatbuns avi or animals avi. Or someone that always uses ero-avis , they have their own style (?)
sometimes~ it my way to recognize member so when someone change his/her avi that it gave really different image from what recorded on my memory I tend to mistook them for someone else example @akki once I mistook him as @Event horizon
I don't associate the poster with their avatar but I do admit I like looking at the avatars more than their names, and more ways than one the avatar is what sticks in my mind.
It is easy to recognize some users by their avis, like @Arcturus or @asriu. But others, not so much. I recognize them by their name.
Sometimes. It's more of a merging of how they act/the feels they give me, and the feels the avatar gives me. Once I get to know said person more, or if they just have a strong personality, I start being swayed more by that rather than the avatar. I know a fair amount of people that use avatar's that reflect moods, their personality, things they like, etc so there's that too.
so . . . what can you say about my avi. . huh!? i forgot to change you know. . . i really did. . i'm not scaring or opening wounds of anyone ok!! i'm a harmless merchant ok!?
Well it's certainly amusing to see someone with the avatar of some mind-broken ahegao-faced hentai girl comment something serious.
Not really with most but there is a few exceptions if the avatars follow a theme like with a certain nekomimi or heavily referenced like with a certain two-headed cat...
You should! Pay attention to mine! Don't you just love my shiny blue paint?~~ Anyway, I don't really pay that close attention to people's avis, at all. They're pretty random, after all, and unless I recognize them, they're really only worth a glance or two and quickly forgotten. Sometimes they're more iconic, like @GonZ555 who is essentially only remembered as "that meatbun," but most people aren't remembered for their avis at all, and possibly even change them constantly. Paying close attention to them and trying to judge what they say by their avi will get you nowhere.
To me it's a similar vibe to people wearing funny T-shirts, sometimes I am like why are you wearing that? Other times I think oh that's neat or pretty or cute etc. Sometimes just because of the femininity or masculinity I can't help but stereotype and think someone is a girl or guy and then I realize/remember that A they seem to be of a different gender then what I had thought based on their avatar and B it doesn't really matter because it is an online person and it's not like they can read my thoughts. On the other hand I feel that just like some T-shirts in real life its kind of situational, if I saw a person at a really formal occasion wearing a t-shirt I would be like eh? Same thing if a person on what I would consider more of a professional site was using a really inappropriate avatar...NUF in general is pretty causal so I usually am not bothered by most avatars. Perhaps I would get annoyed if I was more involved in this community because I tend to prefer continuity over novelty so I would get confused over who was who if people switch avatars often, but since I am not to me everybody is random anonymous peoples so I don't really care that much. Though occasionally a persons avatar is so contrasting in theme to what they are writing/saying that I feel a bit disappointed or find it funny (see it as a more subtle joke).
Context and content over familiarity but association with appreciation and evaluation towards lengthy threads with familiar avis.