What is an avatar?
An avatar is the photo of yourself you use online, be it on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk or otherwise. Some people choose to do silly photos, others choose to retouch them or alter them to soften their appearance. Whatever the reason, it is not uncommon to alter your photo to relate to an audience that you have a personality. Below are eight sites that allow you to upload a picture of yourself then go to town for free. Tell us in comments if you’ll be changing your avatar!
BeFunky.com
BigHugeLabs.com
Dumpr.net
Flauntr.com
FunPhotoBox.com
Photo505.com
Poladroid.net
Photofunia.com
AgentGenius.com is not affiliated with any of the above listed services.
In this article:avatar, Social Media
Written By
Lani Rosales, COO + News Director
Lani is the COO and News Director at The American Genius, has co-authored a book, co-founded BASHH, Austin Digital Jobs, Remote Digital Jobs, and is a seasoned business writer and editorialist with a penchant for the irreverent.

17 Comments
Ian Greenleigh
August 10, 2009 at 11:08 am
I’m going to do the one that looks like a tattoo of my face on someone’s heinie. I’ll let you know how it all works out for me professionally.
Andrea Schulle
August 10, 2009 at 11:21 am
Fun stuff! Thanks Lani.
Linsey
August 10, 2009 at 10:41 pm
It’s funny…I did my ‘Vogue’ twitter avatar on a lark. Somehow, it’s kinda become my thing. I’m amazed how often people comment on it; it’s fun and memorable. I’ll admit however, I’d pass on the ass tatoo, too. 😉
Tim Ryan
August 10, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Quite frankly, my IT guy is doing this for me. Social media takes enough time as it is.
Sal Antsipenka
August 10, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I prefer to just upload a pic if I can. Avatars are not that important unless you are an artist or a kid. However whatever it takes to have fun, I guess.
Steven Noreyko
August 10, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Cute avatar results from those sites.
However, keep in mind that if you’re using social media for your business, try to keep your avatar picture professional looking.
Also – I like to be able to recognize people from their avatar photos at tweetups and other social events. If you go crazy making it look “funky”, you might make yourself unrecognizable.
steven noreyko :: photographer
@headshotpro
Joe Loomer
August 11, 2009 at 7:32 am
Wow – Since befunky had eight different options, I spent ten minutes messing around with it before realizing there where SEVEN more links right below it – hadn’t scrolled down all the way.
Lani always finds the FUN stuff!!
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
Chris Fyvie
August 23, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Thanks for the post! I used a few of these sites to put a spin on my logo and jazz up a few pictures I can use in my posts.
Here’s are my fav!
https://twitpic.com/f0lax
https://twitpic.com/f0lc2
Bob Garson
August 24, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Thank you very much – photofunia is really nice site. Another site like this is Picjoke.com – they make a new effect every day!