# Avatars and PMs..or lack thereof **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 30, 2002, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707 "2002-12-30T17:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/1 "2002-12-30T17:42:13Z")
Who is my ‘administrator’ and why wont he/she allow me to use an avatar or private messaging? Is it all bandwidth? ~Ferry, newbie ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/2 "2002-12-30T17:48:20Z")
The rule applies to everyone, and we disallow avatars / private messaging for various reasons, some of them being to speed up page loading time and to avoid overloading the message board server. There are several administrators at the SDMB, amonst them TubaDiva, C K Dexter Haven, Lynn Bodoni, Gaudere, Arnold Winkelried. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/3 "2002-12-30T17:49:47Z")
**Buck** , the Admins. cover the entire board and each also works as a Moderator for a particular forum as well. Nobody gets PM or avatars here, simply because it’s one of the most populous and most extensively used boards, and they’ve chosen to disable them for the sake of keeping up speed and preserving bandwidth in an effort to keep focus on the post-content that I believe you would have to concede is more important. Avatars are fun and PM can be useful at times, but e-mail is a reasonable substitute and I’m much happier seeing fairly quick responses to my requests for threads than seeing your desire to be represented by a tap-dancing rhinoceros (or whatever) fulfilled. (On two boards with avatars enabled, I use the squirrel-with-goggles that appears to be a Simpsons image, so don’t think I’m putting them down.) ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/4 "2002-12-30T18:04:01Z")
That’s what I thought, but I wanted to be sure it wasn’t because maybe I didn’t have enough posts behind me or something. Thank you kindly! ~Ferry (and **polycarp** , I would have chosen a hobbit, not a rhino _giggle_) ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/5 "2002-12-30T21:38:59Z")
It warms my heart to see a newbie asking intelligent questions, being polite, and picking up board etiquette (eg. bolding user names) so quickly. Cheers **BuckleberryFerry**. Welcome to the board. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/6 "2002-12-30T22:11:45Z")
Well, I aim to please, **White Lightning**! I’ve been to a few boards before and just want to be sure I get the hang of each. Every board is different, and I want to be sure I’m appropriate on each. ~Ferry, bowing. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/7 "2002-12-30T22:24:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > **(On two boards with avatars enabled, I use the squirrel-with-goggles that appears to be a Simpsons image, so don’t think I’m putting them down.)** Could that be [Rocky the Flying Squirrel](http://www.worldmall.com/kannon/rbantll1.jpg) from **Rocky and Bullwinkle**? And as for PMs, every once in a while we’ll have an MPSIMS thread asking for members’ IM names for the various IM services, so it’s not like we’re locked out of PM/IMing completely. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/8 "2002-12-31T06:12:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BuckleberryFerry \* > \*\* I’ve been to a few boards before and just want to be sure I get the hang of each. Every board is different, and I want to be sure I’m appropriate on each. \*\* I wish every new poster had this philosophy. Welcome to the SDMB! ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/9 "2002-12-31T16:15:42Z")
Aww… you guys are sweet. ::curtsey:: Thank you kindly. ~Ferry ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/10 "2003-01-02T07:54:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Troy McClure SF \* > **Could that be [Rocky the Flying Squirrel](http://www.worldmall.com/kannon/rbantll1.jpg) from Rocky and Bullwinkle?** Nope. It’s a Simpsons pic - a squirrel with radioactive eyes. I remember it from an episode, using radioactive-eyes super powers to ‘laser’ through a tree branch. Cute l’il thing. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/11 "2003-01-02T14:28:47Z")
**Polycarp** , that was the Monorail episode. Forget avatars; I think we should all get our own private administrators. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars-and-pms-or-lack-thereof/145707/12 "2003-01-02T14:30:18Z")
Oops, I meant to address that to **tavalla** , even though **Polycarp** did first bring it up.