Social Media Hive has created a great presentation that offers some helpful advice and tips on things you should consider when selecting a profile photo for your social accounts. The presentation uses Twitter as the example network, however the same rules apply to social networks across the web, whether it’s Facebook, YouTube, or Google+.
As a breakdown, the characteristics that constitute a “good profile picture” are defined by the following:
1) Easily recognizable – use close up shots
2) A shot of your smiling will increase the likelihood that others will connect with you
3) Illustrations as profile photos are fine, however cartoon characters make your profile appear less professional
Social networks have different demention requirements when it comes to your profile picture which may affect the other quality if the size isn’t optimized. It’s generally a good idea to crop the pictures prior to uploading them and mypictr.com is a good tool for doing that.
