Can a good picture help your personal brand? Maybe. Can a bad photo on Facebook ruin your brand? Absolutely.
Here’s a nifty infographic from LinkingR about the level of damage your image can make to your online identity on Facebook and other places.
Minor damage is incurred by using a default picture (imagine the egg on Twitter). A little more damage is done by using a low-res photo or something blurry altogether (so forget those holiday snaps please).
Dual damage is when you use someone elses photo, especially if that photo is bad as well. In the graphic below they’ve used Brad Pitt which probably mitigates that damage just a tad. Severe damage is caused by using an offensive image that will shock your grandma.
The highest level of damage is apparently the use of pornographic imagery. Funny that, I see lots of these images on Twitter by spammers and it seems to work for them, mind you they’re not looking to boost their online personal brand of course.
Related: 7 Pictures You Should Never Use on Your LinkedIn Profile.
