Given enough time in a shower, you develop shower thoughts --  but
mostly you get pruney fingers. Given the current social distancing
measures, everyone has taken to the internet to get their work done. I
am now working, taking classes, and hanging out with friends on the
internet on a daily bases. The omnipresent prevalence of online
platforms has gotten me thinking a lot about how we express our
identity on the internet. Specifically, profile pictures have seized
my attention lately.  

![main profile photo](media/profileImage/main.png)

On the internet, you can express yourself in ways that are infeasible
in real life. The very notion of a profile with a bio and a brave
little emblem representing you at your best is a new paradigm. This
gives immense control over your first impressions on the internet--
something that we desperately wish for in the real world. 

![profile photo with camera](media/profileImage/camera.jpg)

Like many self-reflective individuals in my generation, I probably
spend way too much time thinking about my profile. I don't believe
that this is necessarily a bad thing, putting some creative effort
into your profile picture can raise your self-esteem -- or something
like that. People should take pride in their profile images because it
is a stamp of your identity: an image or ideal of you at your best.
Your profile is a place to carve out your home on the internet.  

![main profile old](media/profileImage/selfie.jpg)

Not everybody puts effort or thought into profiles, that is perfectly
fine. However, as people start to do more things online, we will see
more in-depth and creative profiles. As one of my friends put
it a long time ago: "Upload a dam photo! You don't want to be another
faceless Jeff on the internet". 

![blank profile image](media/profileImage/empty.png)