Why Your Avatar is so Important.

Avatars are the thing- the image that you want to project to the internet world. They can be different for different sites or the same one can follow you wherever you go, giving you, as a writer, a bit of personality. You probably have one or more yourself; a cute animal picture, an old college photo with your drinking buddies, your business icon or a more formal headshot. Most people are unaware how important their avatar can be. An avatar is not only an expression of self; it also dictates the first impression people have of you. If you are using an inappropriate avatar in a certain situation, you could potentially lose readership and therefore business from potential clients. It's worth having a closer look at your avatars - are they saying what you want them to?

Essentially, an avatar is an expression of some part of yourself. It can range from a simple user name, through to a complicated picture or icon representation. This avatar can be used in blogs or social media sites. It is even possible to create a 3-D representation of you for use in computer games.


A Gravatar (globally recognized avatar), is an avatar that you can use on all websites that are gravatarly enabled. Regardless of whether you choose to use an avatar or a gravatar, whatever you choose to represent yourself is going to define you. It's very important to choose your avatar with care.
Social media is one of the key areas in which people use avatars. Given that most people use social media as a way to meet new friends, the first impression that your avatar creates can be particularly important.
· Facebook or MySpace
Social networking sites such as FaceBook and MySpace are full of people with avatars. Most of these avatars portray 'fun' party pictures, with lots of very drunk people enjoying yet another glass of vino. While this is a great party image, is this really the image of yourself that you want the world to see?


Nowadays, with the popularity of social media, more and more employers are Googling potential employees and checking out their Facebook or MySpace pages. Due to the nature of those pages, the employers are limited to what they can see in way of information. But what can they see? Of course, they can see the potential employees avatar, the one showing them being great party people, not necessarily great employees.

You could definitely argue that what an employee does with his or her free time is optional and really shouldn't affect their job prospects. However, if you consider that an employer looks at hundreds of applicants and is keen to find the most responsible and capable employee. Based on an innocently partying avatar they could easily conclude that you might be coming to work hung over; a conclusion which could put you out of the running for that perfect job.

Get your own Avatar today by downloading your own zwinky

Additional resources:
my zwinky
zwinkies

How you can Build Your personal MySpace Avatars

zwinkys

MySpace avatars are available in all styles and categories. You could have static images or animated videos. You are able to select animals, ethnocentric images, celebrities, gothic/emo/rock icons, love avatars, music avatars, funny/scary/party theme icons, games, cartoons, brands, artistic themes or sports icons. If your pre-made icons at "Glitter-Graphics", "Cool Avatars" or "MySpace Avatars" don't suit you, you'll be able to even make your own! If you want to generate your own personal MySpace avatars the computer geek way, then you will need some type of computer which has an internet connection, movie software like Quicktime or MovieSnapshot and picture editing software that can create layers, like Adobe Photoshop.

To create still images from the movie/AVI file, you'll need to choose an animated sequence, video or movie trailer. When you have a film on DVD you want to grab a scene from, then you'll rip your DVD into an AVI file using suitable computer software.

Next, you will have to try out the recording clip, pause within the shot you need to make an avatar out of. Some software will assist you to select "create thumbnail" or "save image," or in some cases you'll click "print screen" in your keyboard and paste into MS Paint of saving as a screen shot. Advance the clip for the next frame and create a still image, and continue carrying this out provided you would like the sequence to go on. Then you can open all of the still images in Photoshop and place each image in a layer, saving the animation being a GIF file.
For many, MySpace avatars can be a nice anonymous outlet to self expression. Not everyone is comfortable posting their actual photographs online. In the end, anyone can see you. Girls sometimes worry that men will be drooling over their pictures and several adults fear that their particular likeness or identity could possibly be stolen. The last thing you may need is an ex-lover following you down or incriminating photos to come to light. Instead, you will want to use MySpace images that say something about you? Or some people prefer to produce a digital person on sites like "Meez", selecting a similar eye color, hair color, clothing style and facial features with characters that seem like "Zwinkys," "Sims" or "Second Lifers."

Want to send your MySpace friend a message? Check out the wide selection of MySpace avatars! You are able to send your sweetheart an animated avatar of two cartoon monkeys kissing, or you can send other people you know a "friends forever" icon with two cats hugging. You can find birthday animations or simply plain funny animations that you could post because they remind you of someone specifically. Avatars are the best way to let MySpace friends know you will be thinking them, in addition to expressing yourself.



Additional resources:
create a zwinky
my zwinky
zwinkies

About the Zwinky ZCard

ZBucks are the currency that is used throughout Zwinktopia. Zwinky members can use ZBucks to purchase virtual goods and services within the Zwinky world.

As a new Zwinky user you will receive 100 ZBucks. With your ZCard you can purchase a variety of goods, including premium items that you must have a ZCard to purchase. So how do Zwinkies earn ZBucks? Well, there's more than one way. For instance, simply walking around and exploring Zwinktopia is one way to earn ZBucks. For each different place you visit, whether it's a single building or a larger, general area, you can earn one ZBuck, and you can collect up to 30 ZBucks per day. Playing games, however, is where the real cash is found. After finishing a game, you have the option of cashing in your score, which turns your performance into cold, hard ZBucks. The average game generates between 15 and 30 ZBucks for players, and Zwinkies can earn up to 300 ZBucks per day playing games. You can also earn ZBucks by inviting friends to join Zwinkys. For each friend you invite to join you can earn10 ZBucks, there is a limit of 10 friends/100 ZBucks a month. You can earn an additional 50 ZBucks for every friend that accepts your invitation to join Zwinky. There is also a limit of 10 new member/500 ZBucks per month. You can also purchase ZBucks using a paypal account or your credit card. They can also be used to buy refreshments from the Java Jolt or The Caf. These can be quite expensive; dorm rooms usually cost approximately 1250 ZBucks.

Additional Resources:
zwinkies
free zwinky

About the Zwinky ZCard

Zwinktopia, just like every other world has its own currency. This virtual currency is called ZBucks. Zwinkys can use these ZBucks to purchase goods and services within Zwinktopia.

When you become a Zwinky member you will automatically receive 100 ZBucks to get you started in Zwinktopia. You can put your ZBUcks into a ZCard account; you can then use your ZCard to purchase goods within Zwinktopia, including specialty items that you can only buy with a ZCard.
There are a number of ways to earn ZBucks. Every time your Zwinky visits a new area, be it a single building or a larger general area you can earn one ZBuck. You can collect up to 30 ZBucks simply by moving around Zwinktopia. You can earn lots of ZBucks by playing games. Your game score can be converted into ZBucks. Game playing can be very fruitful, you could make up to 300 ZBucks a day.


You can also earn ZBucks by inviting friends to join Zwinky. For each friend you invite to join you can earn10 ZBucks, there is a limit of 10 friends/100 ZBucks a month. You can earn an additional 50 ZBucks for every friend that accepts your invitation to join Zwinky. There is also a limit of 10 new member/500 ZBucks per month. You can also purchase ZBucks using a paypal account or your credit card.

ZBucks can be used to purchase items of clothing in Zwinchester mall. They can also be used to buy refreshments from the Java Jolt or The Caf. You can even use your ZBucks to purchase a Zwinkys dorm room in the ZSU Quad. These can be quite expensive; dorm rooms usually cost approximately 1250 ZBucks.

Additional Resources:
Zwinktopia
How to use Zwinkies

The advantages of having a Zwinky.

Although along with a variety of other social networking sites, Zwinky provides its users with the opportunity to meet new people and socialize. Zwinky allows users more flexibility than most social networking sites, this flexibility is achieved because it is possible to move your Zwinky avatar onto other websites. This is one of the reasons why Zwinky is so popular. Not only does Zwinky provide flexibility in the way you use your avatar, there is now the additional fun of Zwinktopia. A fun-filled virtual world designed specifically for the Zwinky.

Zwinky and Club Penguin have a lot of features in common. Both of these websites require you to create your very own personalized avatar. Both sites give you the opportunity to move around within a virtual world. Each of these applications also gives users the opportunity to socialize and meet new people, as well as play a variety of games. The key difference between these two services is the fact that Club Penguin is designed by Disney and aimed at children between the ages of 6-12, while Zwinky requires children to be at least 13 years old to join.

Zwinkies creators advertise the fact that you can create your own personalized avatar in any way that you like, thus your avatar could be who you are now, who you want to be in the future or someone else entirely. Critics have suggested that Zwinky does not promote the real world values they believe it should and that it places too much emphasis on consumerism. It is however the case that Zwinky had by August 2008 attracted over 16 million users, a number that is constantly growing. Zwinky has been so popular in fact that Zwinky creators have brought out a new version, aimed at younger girls called Zwinky Cuties.

Additional Resources:
Zwinktopia
How Do You Create a Zwinky?

What is Zwinktopia?

Zwinky.com started out as a website that gave you the ability to create you're very own personalized avatar. You could choose from a variety of accessories, outfits and physical features for your Zwinky. After creating your Zwinky you could use it as a cartoon representation of yourself on social networking such as MySpace.

However, on the previous page we talked about moving your Zwinky avatar around. If you embed your Zwinky into a Web page, isn't it just stuck there, with nowhere to go?

Inter ActiveCorp (IAC), the company that created and manages Zwinky, decided to create a virtual world for Zwinky fans to explore. This world provides a forum in which Zwinky users can interact with each other. This virtual world, Zwinktopia is made up of a number of locations, many of which replicate real-world experiences, including cafes, gaming arcades and shopping malls. Zwinktopia gives Zwinky fans the opportunity to take their personalized Zwinky avatar into an animated virtual reality world that they can play games, chat with other Zwinky users and best of all explore. Listed below are a number of the main areas Zwinktopia users can explore:

Zwinktopia includes a massive shopping mall, the Zwinchester. Here you can find both the East Mall and the West Mall. These two malls comprise a number of shops, such as the University Club or The Lair, there's even a pizzeria!

Zwinktopia also has an awesome gaming arcade, Zarcadia. Zwinky fans can play all sorts of games to earn ZBucks (we'll learn more on that later), you can also visit Kingpin Korner, Zwinktopia's bowling alley.

Zwinktopia also includes a university-like location known as ZSU. ZSU is centred around the ZSU Quad which is surrounded by the four key dorms: the Omegaad, the Dungeon, the Abacus and the End Zone. Zwinkies can hang out in the common rooms chatting with other Zwinkies, or they can just chill in their rooms, which can be bought with ZBucks.

The Caf is a campus cafeteria at ZSU, where digital burgers and sodas are sold. There's also Java Jolt, a coffee house that has games inside.

You can move your Zwinky to any of these fun places using the key Zwinktopia map.

In all of these areas you will be able to either earn or spend ZBucks. So we have to ask the question, how do you use ZBucks and the Zwinky ZCard?

Get your own zwinkies

Additional resources:
Create and Use Your Zwinky
How Do You Create a Zwinky?

How to use Zwinkies

In 2006, IAC Interactive created Zwinky to appeal to teenagers, for whom self-expression can be essential. Featuring fully customizable characters and accessories, Zwinkies are uniquely designed avatars. Every aspect of your zwinky can be customized to suit you, hair color, skin, eyes, glasses, shirts, pants and shoes.

If you want to have your own zwinky your need to download a small program that needs to be installed on your computer.This may be a slightly unfamiliar approach for members of other social networking sites -- most simply request that you create a username and password and fill in some personal information, including e-mail addresses and phone numbers. Zwinky, however, requires you to download a Zwinky icon onto your Web browser, which users click on to access the program's interface.

When you've successfully installed the Zwinky program and opened up the program window, it's time to customize your Zwinky character. Every user has their very own wardrobe to use to dress their zwinkies with, you can have access to this wardrobe simple by clicking "open wardrode" button that is located near the bottom the the monitor. You can manipulate a Zwinky's appearance to make it look however you want, also the user can decide what gender you zwinkies are, what skin tone they have, even the hair style and hair color they have.

Zwinky avatars can move around their own virtual universe, and the main purpose of the site is for users to interact with other Zwinkies, play games and purchase digital goods.If you want to move your zwinkies around the screen all you need to do is move your mouse curser to where you want your zwinky to move to and click the mouse button. You can meet new people or see a list of the ones you already have by clicking on the "View/Add Friends" button at the bottom of the interface. This button allows you to either send an e-mail to a fellow Zwinky requesting friendship or to see where in zwinkies world your friends are. If a friend is online, clicking on your friend can bring you straight to him or her, call up that person's profile or let you send that person a Znote.

Of course, if another Zwinky bothers you or makes you uncomfortable, you have the option of blocking him or her from chatting with you. By clicking on that person's avatar and selecting "Block," that Zwinky will no longer be able to communicate with you or see your profile.

Additional Resources:
How Do You Create a Zwinky?
How Do You Create a Zwinky?