Why you should add Gravatars to your Blog

May 1, 2008 D. H. McKee

… or “Why you should add Gravatars to your WordPress Blog”. Sheesh. Blah blah blah WordPress. This guy devotes a total of one paragraph to the “why” of using gravatars and the rest of the time going on and on about how WordPress will help get them all across the Web. And he keeps capitalizing “gravatars”, unlike the actual Gravatar website.
But I’m hip to new things. Took me 5 minutes to set it up on Movable Type, the non-Wordpress platform I use. So big deal. I now have gravatars.
Why you should add Gravatars to your Blog

Gravatar stands for globally recognized avatar. It essentially provides an easy way for blog commentators to attach their own image to comments all across the web.
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Avatars are a great way of encouraging more participation on your blog as it allows your readers to express themselves with their own picture or image. With more and more people using the Gravatar service it makes sense to make sure your blog comment area supports it.

One Response to “Why you should add Gravatars to your Blog”

dmckee
17 years ago

See? Gravatars. I put in a default one in case you don’t have your own.

About This Site

As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

Writers often treat the bio like it’s an interview or something. Maybe like they’re having a conversation with you, the reader. While it may work sometimes, the most common way to write a bio is to write in the 3rd person.

I’m like those writers, and I’m talking to you directly, unlike the common way to do a bio. You should see my About page. It makes sense to me, since this is a bit which describes my blog’s website. When I get famous enough that I don’t have time to talk to you, I’ll have an intern write everything in 3rd person. Until then, you get to talk to me.

Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.