When I get a new profile picture...

When I get a new profile picture it takes a while for me to update everything. Even before that, Cassie has to draw my profile picture. My habit for my last five profile pictures is to have them custom drawn by Cassie. She really does a great job and tends to use different art styles each time so they all look really different.

However, just getting my profile pictures is the first step. She doesn't tend to draw them in perfect squares, so my first step is to crop it to a square. While I'm at it, I edit the picture down to a smaller resolution for those services that don't support the higher resolution images.

Once I get finished making all of the technical preparations I then start uploading the picture to everywhere on the internet that I have a profile picture. This is actually a rather lengthy list. I keep a folder on my computer where I sort my old profile pictures. In addition to the pictures, I keep a Word document containing the locations that I use a profile pictures. This gives me a quick checklist when I get a new pictures so I know I've uploaded it to everywhere.

1. My Blog
2. Facebook
3. Skype
4. Pownce
5. Technorati
6. Flickr
7. Digg
8. Last.fm
9. Gmail
10. Windows Vista (Laptop)
11. Windows Vista (Desktop)
12. Hulu
13. Twitter

I don't really use everyone of the above services regularly, but my profile picture exists at each location so I keep it up to date. I really do see a need for standardization with regard to updating information across multiple services. It is nice that some places, such as Gmail, update across multiple applications now, but it still does take a decent amount of time to update all of the different locations.

Actually updating the pictures doesn't really bother me that much. It is an event for me. It is even fun to a certain extent. However, there is a little headache that goes with the process. Mainly compatibility. The problem is different services don't like taking the new pictures. The two that really give me a hard time have been Pownce and Gmail. It normally takes more than one try to get the new profile picture to stick.

I can see how a service that would help standardize this process would definitely be useful. For the time being, I will continue to go site to site updating my picture. The main thing I need to remember is when I register for a new service, I need to add it to my list of places to update.