I tend to glance askance when people use icons that're clearly photographs of themselves or their children. Other than that, I don't generally draw conclusions from people based off their default icons.
Personally, I very rarely change default icons--this one has been my default since I joined DW, and my default on LJ has been my default there for years--but on the other hand, I don't tend to use them very much. (Well, I use my eljay one more often now that I only have six icons there and it's my most neutral-faced one, but this default icon isn't even my most-used Elliott Smith icon, let alone most used icon, period.) They serve less as a go-to icon for most situations and more as...hm. More like a representative picture that's primarily relevant if you're looking for more info about me--which I suppose you would be, if you were on my profile. I always feel kind of boring if I actually use my default icon, like I was just too uninspired to click one of the other ones.
(I wonder what mine would convey to other people anyway--neither strike me as looking superfannish. Actually, I suspect most of my eljay icons would probably look "amateurish" on first blush, but that's for a combination of factors rather than an unfamiliarity with the site or fandom as a whole. Considering that in the world of fandom, I mostly tend to keep to myself, though, perhaps that's fitting. >>)
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I tend to glance askance when people use icons that're clearly photographs of themselves or their children. Other than that, I don't generally draw conclusions from people based off their default icons.
Personally, I very rarely change default icons--this one has been my default since I joined DW, and my default on LJ has been my default there for years--but on the other hand, I don't tend to use them very much. (Well, I use my eljay one more often now that I only have six icons there and it's my most neutral-faced one, but this default icon isn't even my most-used Elliott Smith icon, let alone most used icon, period.) They serve less as a go-to icon for most situations and more as...hm. More like a representative picture that's primarily relevant if you're looking for more info about me--which I suppose you would be, if you were on my profile. I always feel kind of boring if I actually use my default icon, like I was just too uninspired to click one of the other ones.
(I wonder what mine would convey to other people anyway--neither strike me as looking superfannish. Actually, I suspect most of my eljay icons would probably look "amateurish" on first blush, but that's for a combination of factors rather than an unfamiliarity with the site or fandom as a whole. Considering that in the world of fandom, I mostly tend to keep to myself, though, perhaps that's fitting. >>)