You may remember back in May when everyone started using avatars on their Facebook, but over the past few months, we haven’t seen them appear on our pages until a couple of days ago when everyone started using them again. When they first came out, they were a way for people to express themselves through cartoon avatars, which was much more advanced than the emojis available on Facebook. So why are we seeing them emerge once again?
A couple of days ago, Facebook launched the avatar feature “Avatars for Africa,” which are more specialized avatars. It’s an expansion of the current avatar system that allows users who aren’t based in America or Europe to create identities that fit them. You can customize the avatar to look like you as well as changing the expression, clothing, and background. You can use the Facebook Avatar feature as a profile picture or to send stickers to others.
“Facebook is home to some of your most personal content and we want to allow people to share and react to that content in the most personalised way possible,” Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director of Facebook Africa sid. “We’re excited to give people more options to convey their identity on Facebook, allowing them to share in a more personal, light-hearted way.”
To use the feature, make sure you have the latest version of Facebook and then log into your account. At the top right corner there are three lines, click on them and then scroll down to the “See More.” Click on “Avatar.” Then you will start creating your avatar by selecting your skin tone, hairstyle, face shape, eye shape, eyewear, body shape, and other body features. Once you’ve completed the avatar, click “Done” at the top right corner. Then click “Next” and you will see your finished avatar.
