How many times have you received an alert that someone has just followed you on twitter. I check out each and every one of them every single day. And if there is one thing which really gets me it is when someone uses the default twitter avatar pictured in the image below. One of the problems of using the default is that you may look like a twitter spammer to those who are checking you out. Usually unless I know you, I don’t follow back new followers who use the default avatar.

I don’t know, but perhaps taking the time to set your own image as the avatar shows you are taking twitter serious as a way to connect with people and build your network.

It only takes a minute or two to set your twitter avatar to something more personalized. In fact, you should be using an avatar for many uses. Not the least of which would be for many of the commenting services being used right now by many bloggers.

However, lets take it one step further. Why not use your real photo or image for your twitter avatar? When I am checking out my twitter stream I tend to notice who is tweeting by their avatar almost as much or even more then by their name.

Back in March, I posted the tweet you see below.

If you are using twitter as a marketing/social media tool, don’t you want to establish some brand recognition? And if you are using your real name, I would also recommend you use your real image. I use the image you see in my twitter avatar for all of the services which allow you to set an image. That way, no matter where I am at, Facebook, Linkedin, Gavatar, and twitter, you see the same image over and over again.

I know there are some of you who may disagree. Leave your comments and questions. Let’s keep the conversation going.