Practicalmadness

This is an actual IM, recieved after I fell asleep last night, and I wonder -- what is my buddy icon saying about me? More importantly, dear reader, what does your buddy icon say about you?

I'm using iChat AV to connect to AIM. Most AIMsters (presumably using one of the myriad versions of the original AOL Instant Messenger) have their choice of any number of predesigned buddy icons supplied by Your Trusted Friends at AOL. I'm sure you can also supply your own image, but the easiest method is to just pick something from the menu. That this is usually something promoting an AOL Time Warner product -- a Cartoon Network character, a Warner Bros. movie, a Warner Music artist -- is just beautiful synergy.

iChat, on the other hand, will only let you use an icon you provide yourself, but it does this more easily than you can do just about anything on AOL Instant Messenger -- you just drag your photo (or other image) onto the buddy icon next to your name in the Buddy List window, and a dialog lets you crop and zoom the image to create the perfect 32x32 pixel avatar.

This can be liberating or limiting. I use a simple photo of myself -- I have no need to hide behind Ian McKellen As Gandalf -- but I don't have the pleasure(?) of figuring out which ugly AOL advertisement I want to represent me over IM.

So is Felix the Cat right to say that my buddy icon is 'arrogant'?