Member-only story
Writing
Does Your Profile Picture Impact Your Earnings?
Some thoughts on putting your real self out there.
“It had no face, no personality. It was like a Martian. But hey, that’s me.” — Elaine Benes explaining to Jerry Seinfeld why she prefers men who are circumcised.
For the last six years, I’ve been hiding behind a cartoon avatar on Twitter. I never even considered uploading a real photo of myself there because posting on Twitter is like walking down a dark alley alone. I’ve always felt much, much safer remaining anonymous.
That’s also why I put off joining Medium for at least a year, if not longer. Their guidelines at the time (who knows what they say now) mandated a “clear profile photo”. No thank you.
It’s not just that I have low-esteem and hate every picture ever taken of me except that one when I was three months old. It’s not just that I’m worried about internet stalkers.
It’s that posting a photo of myself makes me feel vulnerable. A profile photo says, “Here I am. This is me.”
A photo is an invitation to judgment.
