# Avatar holdouts: going to stick to your guns or eventually get one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022 "2021-04-15T01:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/102 "2021-04-18T19:44:55Z")
I think **DMC** is alluding to his grievances with **SayTwo** as detailed in [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saytwo-is-an-ignorant-fuckstick-of-the-highest-order/924070). ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/103 "2021-04-18T19:46:15Z")
ohhhh ok I’m not up on my board drama, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/104 "2021-04-18T20:04:22Z")
Me as well. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/105 "2021-04-18T20:43:47Z")
But the greater point is that in an avatar world you risk being mistaken for another person when you just leave a default letter. Of course, I currently mistake a couple dog/cat people for each other. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/107 "2021-04-18T21:34:04Z")
it’s interesting to me that several people find avatars useful and informative in some fashion. I had one for a time, it was neat and sort of fun, but I grew bored with it and took it down. Overall I find avatars have neither merit nor demerit, they simply are, mostly. The way discourse utilizes them on thread titles while browsing topics on a forum page is terrible in my opinion. But thats part of the whole”I don’t give a damn what somebody replied when I don’t even know what the op is” issue and not really part of this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/108 "2021-04-18T21:46:32Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Has it occurred to you that LOTS of people actually DO access the board on their phones? I have zero blockers, use safari and, I assume, other users also have the theme I chose. Elbows, here’s what the board looks like on my iPhone Xs in Safari: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/SPTWho1.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/SPTWho1) And in Chrome: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/RZpdl4F.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/RZpdl4F) (I’m logged into the board in Chrome, so I get my preferred dark theme.) You can see the avatars are quite legible. If I had to guess, you’ve changed the display font to be large and that’s crowding out the graphics perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/109 "2021-04-18T23:20:19Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > !!! All this time I had assumed that it was a hummingbird, wings beating too fast to be visible, or something. Damn. I am _not_ changing my user name to **Northern Hummingbird**! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/110 "2021-04-18T23:23:54Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > There are a couple I wish I could block. I like the posters, but their avatars are viscerally unpleasant to me. That was the reason I never put any effort into trying to turn them on on the old board, with the monkeywidget thing that someone came up with. I went to the old boards a few times without logging in, just to see what magic I was missing, and I found some of the avatars … disturbing. That’s not happened this time around. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/111 "2021-04-18T23:25:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I am _not_ changing my user name to **Northern Hummingbird**! I was thinking **Northern Mosquito**. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/112 "2021-04-18T23:25:20Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > > > !!! All this time I had assumed that it was a hummingbird, wings beating too fast to be visible, or something. Damn. > > I am _not_ changing my user name to **Northern Hummingbird**! - How about **Colibri Of The North**? :flees: ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/113 "2021-04-18T23:28:06Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I was thinking **Northern Mosquito**. > [@running\_coach](#): > > How about **Colibri Of The North**? > :flees: I feel the need to play a rant in response to these comments! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6eK9dqffySs/maxresdefault.jpg "Cameronian Rant Bagpipes") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eK9dqffySs) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/114 "2021-04-18T23:37:08Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I feel the need to play a rant in response to these comments! I take it back!!! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/115 "2021-04-18T23:49:45Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@running\_coach](#): > > > > How about **Colibri Of The North**? > > :flees: > > I feel the need to play a rant in response to these comments! - > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eK9dqffySs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eK9dqffySs) I have heard myself sing. I do not fear your…_pipes._ ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/116 "2021-04-18T23:49:46Z")
not me personally, of course. You need to be a really good piper to do a good rant! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/117 "2021-04-19T00:03:17Z")
And all this time I thought that was a [Northern Seahorse](https://www.google.com/search?q=seahorse&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=624&ei=5cZ8YNHLIKKEwbkP_PqkoAc&oq=seahorse&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQsQMyBQgAELEDMgUIABCxAzIFCAAQsQMyBQgAELEDMgUIABCxAzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAA6CAgAELEDEIMBUMgKWJIjYIElaABwAHgAgAHvAogBpAqSAQcwLjUuMS4xmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWc&sclient=img&ved=0ahUKEwiR0q-P_4jwAhUiQjABHXw9CXQQ4dUDCAY&uact=5). ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/118 "2021-04-19T00:22:23Z")
I mix these two guys avatars in my head all the time! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/119 "2021-04-19T03:02:28Z")
There are a few avatars that I find are hard to distinguish, particularly @carnut and @Galactus . They do just look like smears of colour to me. Maybe that’s the sort of avatar **elbows** is referring to. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/120 "2021-04-19T03:40:37Z")
Isn’t **carnut** ’s avatar a bunch of Froot Loops? **elbows** says _all_ the avatars are tiny for her. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/121 "2021-04-19T03:41:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > A lot of people who opposed enabling avatars (and other images) did so out of fear of what _might_ happen: people might post inappropriate images; bandwidth issues might slow down or break the board when displaying all those images; the boards could become cluttered and horrible-looking like other forums that people have experienced. Now that we’ve had avatars for a while, I think that, mostly, these fears have not been realized (which is not to say that things might not have been different a decade or two ago.) Thanks for doing the research, I think your summary is right. However, I would say that there is little distinction in practice between “avatars are for idiots” and “avatars will be the ruin of us” because in the latter case the implication is that at least a sizeable proportion of avatar users want them for bad reasons and are going to be dicks about it. Also note how few of the objections are relevant to the proposal of it being a toggleable feature, off by default: all the posts saying “I don’t want to see X” were beside the point. At the end of the day, not having avatars was what made the board “special”, it was “part of the board culture”, to quote Lynn\_Bodoni. We’re no longer special, folks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022/122 "2021-04-19T04:10:16Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Has it occurred to you that LOTS of people actually DO access the board on their phones? I have zero blockers, use safari and, I assume, other users also have the theme I chose… I’m now really curious what settings you have. Because I mostly browse this board on my phone, and avatars are about half a centimeter, and almost all of them are easier to parse than the letters are to read. (Which is to say, I find it easy to read the letters and even easier to parse the avatars.) > [@Gorsnak](#): > > > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > > Nice! Minimalist, local, attractive. > > Thanks. Doodled it years ago for my brother to use as a logo for his bison ranch. I’m not sure he ever used it much, and then eventually folded the operation. I was always quite proud of it, though. You drew that? It’s really nice. You should be proud of it. It makes a nice avatar, too, as it’s a nice simple image. > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I fully agree with the argument against the kind of highly distracting avatars and graphics that you see on some forums. > > e.g. [Here’s](https://forums.finalgear.com/threads/forums-have-been-upgraded-to-vbulletin-5.3541398/) a random vBulletin board with totally unacceptable distractions IMHO. They even have huge graphics in signatures. > > Nobody in their right mind would want the SDMB to look like that. > > But the old SDMB had reasonable avatars, and Discourse has done it right, so that the avatars and graphics enhance the board rather than detracting from it. Wow, those ARE ugly. No, I wouldn’t want the board to look like that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-holdouts-going-to-stick-to-your-guns-or-eventually-get-one/940022.md?page=7)