Today on the Internet there are many new and sometimes completely incomprehensible words for us, such as skype, spam, flood, userpic and much more. This article will talk about what an avatar is. Believe me, if you are going to become a user of social networks and various forums, you can not do without it.
What it is?
So what is an avatar and what does it eat with? If you thought that now we are talking about the famous box office film by James Cameron, then you were mistaken.
This word has many meanings. But in this case, an avatar is a small picture, a photograph with which a user of a social network or forum shows other people their appearance, essence, character or hobbies. This is a kind of "electronic soul" of the user.
What is an avatar? This is your face on the global Internet. Thanks to a certain picture that a person posts on a forum or on a social network, other users get some idea about him. Therefore, it is very important to make an avatar correctly so that it matches you as much as possible. In this case, you can easily find a common language with those who are of interest to you in the global network.
Where avatar is used
An avatar is an image that replaces your face on the Internet. If you want to participate in the life of various forums, communicate on social networks or find your soul mate on a dating site, you just can not do without an avatar.
It is located under the name (nickname) of the user. It can be seen on your personal page, and it is also displayed every time you comment on something or publish your notes, answer someone’s questions, or ask them yourself. Thanks to this picture, other users “see” in front of them the one with whom they are communicating, or rather, the one you want to show them. So without an avatar, a person is simply faceless and not interesting to anyone. Therefore, one should not even talk about its importance - everything is clear here.
What does the word "avatar" mean
The story of the creation and creation of an avatar is a mystery, covered in darkness. It is still unknown who coined the term and who first began to use it. But it is reliably known that this word carries a divine meaning.
In the book entitled "Myths of the World" there is an interpretation of the meaning of this concept. This is a Sanskrit word (avatar means "descent"). According to the records, the avatar is the deed of the Hindu supreme god (Vishnu or Shiva). Namely, his ascent to the sinful Earth and reincarnation into a mortal being (physical form) to restore law, order and virtue in this world.
What is an avatar
Yes, whatever. It can be your photo or not yours. Various images of nature, shots from films or computer games, photographs of famous actors and musicians, images of cars, motorcycles, animals and much more.
There are several types of this picture on the Internet. The most common two-dimensional avatar model. This is a kind of “icon”, as users call it. Less commonly, it’s a three-dimensional model, which is presented in multiplayer online games. You can find an avatar that consists entirely of text.
So an avatar can be static or animated. Everything is simple here. Static - means motionless. That is, the picture does not move. With animated, it's the other way around. There is some kind of movement, blinking, glow, as well as other very diverse effects. Such avatars attract the attention of other users.
How to create an avatar
The main thing is to choose the right picture that will talk about you on the Internet. On social networks or dating sites, it is best to use your real photo as an avatar. If you, of course, want your acquaintance to turn into real life. Do not put celebrity pictures in your place so as not to mislead other users. And some social networks and dating sites generally do not accept pictures or images on which it is impossible to make out a person’s face.
On forums, the image of an avatar is not so demanding. Here you can put anything you want. Most often, the sites already have a list of pictures from which you can choose your avatar. But if this is not the case, then you have to download the picture from your computer. When choosing between a static picture and an animated one, you need to remember that the Internet connection plays an important role here. The size of the "moving" avatar is much larger than static. Therefore, if your Internet speed is low (less than 128 Kb / sec), pages with animated images will load slowly.
So to summarize. What is an avatar? In the modern world, on the Internet, this word means a graphic image of a real user. A small picture that tells about the person to the interlocutors and, in general, to everyone who is online.