Earlier in the week I raised an open query on Twitter about profile pictures (avatars) and why I think it’s important that you spend some time considering the best kind of image for your particular needs.

When you first register with Twitter, they provide you with a default avatar. It looks like this:

Not exactly the most inspiring of creations. Indeed, one major problem with not uploading your own profile picture, and it’s entirely too common, is you risk becoming yet another faceless entity on the network. Moreover, it makes you look like a newcomer and quite possibly a spammer, as many spam accounts that are powered by bots don’t update their image, either.

But the worst part is the default picture is cold; it doesn’t tell us anything about you.

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I’ve been giving some thought to writing a Twitter glossary – Twitter 101 or somesuch – and may well get around to that at some point. Why? I’m easily infuriated by the way some folk use certain words, even slang, with technology. Yes, this is mostly my own thing, but still: it makes me a little angry.

So, in the meantime, I figured one way for all of us to get a grip on the buzzwords used around the Twitter world would be to do a quick pop quiz. I know, I know: I’ve thrown this on you ten minutes before the bell, but it’s for your own good. The users of Twitter will thank you.

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