So you went to a wedding last weekend and someone took a fantastic shot of you that would be the perfect Twitter profile pic. But you just changed your photo last week… is it OK to change it again? Yes and no.

Changing your Twitter photo too often is a big branding no-no.

Your picture is attached to every tweet you send, and it is the most identifiable piece of your profile next to your username. It appears on all official Twitter apps, Twitter.com, Twitter’s mobile site as well as third-party apps on your computer or smartphone.

Your followers will start to create a connection between your picture and your tweets, and may even recognize your photo before they look at your username. So if you change it too often, you’ll cause confusion among those who are paying attention to your tweets – exactly the kinds of users you want to build a relationship with.

That doesn’t mean that you should never change your profile pic, but you should give it some thought before you do. Here are some scenarios where changing your profile picture is a good idea:

1. Your company has a new logo
2. You’ve drastically changed your look/headshot recently
3. You’re rebranding, and want to create a consistent digital image across Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Even if one of the above situations applies to you, think hard before you change your Twitter photo. When was the last time you changed it? If it was recently, the change might not affect your recognition – at the same time, if you’re changing your photo frequently, you’ll never develop a visual relationship with your followers. And if you haven’t changed your photo in several years, changing it now might confuse those who are closest to you on Twitter. It might be a good idea to warn them of the change before going ahead with the new picture.

When you do decide to change your profile picture, make sure the one you choose to replace it with is one that you’ll stick with for the long-haul.

(No profile picture image via Shutterstock)