If you’re on social media, chances are you have a DP. Here’s what this acronym means and why you might come across it on the internet.
Show images
DP means “display image” or, less commonly, “display image”. It is the image that represents you on a social network or other website. This acronym is widely used on Twitter, but it can also crop up all over the web or even in real conversations. For example, you can say “My DP looks so bad” to your friend standing next to you.
You can also use “DP” as a verb for a photo that you are going to turn into your photo. For example, if you see a nice picture of your friend, you might say, “You should post this picture of yourself on the beach!” Your DP usually appears next to your name in messages and comments.
People usually write this acronym in the lowercase ‘dp’. It’s part of a “profile,” a group of identifying information on a website, such as your display name, location, website, biography, and sometimes a cover photo. Depending on your level of anonymity on a particular website, you may choose to have all or none of this accurate information.
Where do DPs come from?
Display photos are a relatively recent invention. In the very early days of the Internet, most chat rooms were entirely text-based and used a system known as Internet Relay Chat or IRC. However, in the early 2000s, message boards appeared that allowed users to set an “avatar,” a common way of recalling digital photos at the time.
It wasn’t until the invention of Facebook, and later Twitter and Instagram, that adding a photo of yourself became common. Today, display photos are an essential part of any social networking site, messaging app, or almost anything that requires you to create an account. They are an invaluable way of helping us visualize the people on the internet. People who don’t have DP are often referred to as “randoms.”
The first definition for DP in Urban Dictionary’s internet language database was created in June 2009 and reads “display image acronym”. The passage highlights its use in social networks and instant messaging systems, which were common at the time.
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The culture of DPs
At first glance, choosing a screenshot may seem simple. Take a picture of yourself, upload it and that’s the image people will recognize you by. In recent years, however, a few unusual quirks have impacted the way people perceive display images.
On Twitter, it’s common for your screenshot to come from a “fandom” who identifies you as a “stan” or intense fan. So, for example, if you are a big fan of a certain sports team, you might have the star player of the team as your image. Fans usually do this to identify with other fans so they can quickly find other people in their community.
DPs can also make assumptions. Twitter, for example, is known for its constant “discourse,” with many users having lengthy discussions with hundreds of tweet replies. Since your DP is the only way anyone can visualize who you are, it can significantly affect the conversation.
Finally, your DP can be a topic of conversation. Facebook creates a timeline post when you change your profile picture so people can comment on Post Stories or Tweets that draw attention to their recently changed display images.
Photos, photos everywhere
If you have multiple social media accounts, you will notice that each website has a different term for the displayed version of an image. However, “View Image” remains one of the most common ways to reference a profile picture — dating back to instant messaging apps from the late 2000s. That’s why so many people refer to an internet avatar or screenshot as their DP.
Although many people also refer to these images as “profile pictures”, there is no shortened version on the internet. That’s why “DP” is the common term for websites like Twitter, which have character limits. Ironically, although you’ll usually see “DP” popping up on Twitter because of the culture on the website, Twitter calls these images “profile pictures” themselves.
Here are a few examples of different naming conventions for a display image on the web:
You may also encounter anonymous communities where adding an image is uncommon, such as Reddit. On these websites, people usually choose a random image or a non-human avatar.
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