Paul Taylor AKA @PaulBromford tells the story behind his Twitter profile picture:
“In my early days on Twitter I kept the same avatar for a long time. I think because my profile was part of my ‘professional identity’ I played it safe and did one of those slightly cheesy and non-threatening smiley headshots.
“I completely forget who it was, but someone messaged me and said that they loved my Twitter stream but my avatar looked like I was trying to sell them something! I was mortified at the time – as that kind of snake oil sales account is the exact opposite of how I wanted to be perceived.
“Since then I’ve changed my avatar fairly regularly – depending on my mood and what’s important to me. I’m not too concerned about professionalism anymore – if my posts and tweets don’t speak for themselves I’m happy with that. I’m too old now to pretend to be something I’m not.
“My current avatar was taken outside Angkor Wat in Cambodia at about 6 in the morning – it’s why I look slightly dishevelled. I love travelling and especially South East Asia. Most of the work I’m currently doing is around communities and empowering people to make change. I’m fascinated how some cultures – especially ones like Cambodia who’ve been to hell and back – harness the power of community to solve problems, often in the absence of paid ‘professionals’.
“Next week though – it could be me with a robot.”
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