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Controlling our image
微信頭像里信息量原來這么大！
When we meet someone for the first time, we usually get a vague sense of what kind of person they are by the way they shake hands, talk, or walk. In the age of social networking, however, first impressions are sometimes made even before we actually meet someone in person – that is, by looking at their profile photo.
當我們和某人初次見面時，我們通常會從握手、談話或者走路的方式，對這個人形成一些初步印象。然而，在社交媒體時代，第一印象有時甚至在人們見面之前就形成了 —— 通過看他們的個人頭像。
According to a recent study, these social images say a lot about our personality.
一項近期研究表明，這些社交圖像透露了不少我們的性格。
In the study, presented in a paper at the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, a group of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in the US used software to analyze the profile pictures of 66,000 users of US social platform Twitter and 3,200 of their tweets. At the same time, about 434 participants were asked to complete a survey about their personality type.
國際人工智能協會網絡與社交媒體大會上的一篇報告對該研究進行了陳述。研究中，一組來自美國賓夕法尼亞大學的研究人員用軟件分析了美國社交平臺推特上的66000個用戶以及他們的3200條推文。與此同時，約434名參與者受邀完成了一份關于自身性格類型的調查問卷。
The researchers wanted to find out if there was a connection between personality traits – like openness, extroversion, and neuroticism – and a person's profile picture.
研究人員希望找到性格特點（如開放、外向、神經質等）與個人頭像之間的關聯。
According to the results, open people are more likely to pose in an unusual way and use objects such as glasses or a guitar in their profile photo because they enjoy new and exciting experiences.
結果表明，開朗的人更傾向于在頭像中擺出別具一格的姿勢，并用上眼鏡、吉他等物件，因為這些人喜歡全新刺激的體驗。
Meanwhile, neurotic people often hold back their negative emotions. They try to avoid showing their face；instead, they use an image of something like a pet, a car or a building. That's because neurotic people are strongly influenced by the "strong social norm against a very sad or angry appearance in profile pictures," Daniel Preoiuc-Pietro from the University of Pennsylvania wrote in the research paper.
與此同時，神經質的人常常掩飾自己的消極情緒。他們試著避免展示自己的面容，而是用寵物、汽車或者建筑物等物的圖像來代替。那是因為神經質的人深受“強大的社會規范影響，不喜歡十分悲傷或者憤怒的表情出現在頭像當中，”賓夕法尼亞大學的丹尼爾·普里奧克-彼得羅在研究報告中寫道。
Apart from the objects in profile pictures, the colors used in them also give us some hints about the photo's owner.
除了頭像中出現的物體之外，頭像顏色也向我們揭露了頭像主人的一些信息。
For example, extraverts were found to have the most colorful profile images, as they want to emphasize their personality and show themselves off, the researchers wrote.
比如，外向者被發現頭像顏色最為鮮艷，因為他們想要強調自己的個性，并且展示自己，研究人員寫道。
Although social media photos "usually represent an extension of one's self, they also allow a user to shape his or her own personality and idealized view," according to the researchers.
研究人員們認為，盡管社交媒體照片“通常代表著個人自我的延伸，但它們也塑造了用戶的個性以及理想化的觀點。”
So, when choosing a profile photo, maybe we should ask ourselves first what kind of image we'd like to convey. After all, first impressions always last.
所以，當選擇頭像照片時，或許我們首先應該問問自己想要表現出什么樣的形象。畢竟，第一印象最持久。
