# Avatars **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 28, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594 "2011-07-28T05:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/41 "2011-07-29T16:43:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If the situation ever arises in the future where you are having trouble telling one poster from another because their names are confusingly similar, just email a mod and we’ll see what we can do for you. Are you hitting up on her? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/42 "2011-07-29T16:47:47Z")
Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from posting an avatar in your profile. Or must you be a paying member to do so? (And my vote is for no avatars (or images) in posts.) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/43 "2011-07-29T17:04:56Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Really? So since 99% of boards have avatars I’m going to guess that this is the only board you visit since you’ve made it clear you do not want to hang out with any of “those types”. Well this is the only board I visit. But I suppose that people on other boards do not really need the avatar to identify the poster, they just like it that way. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/44 "2011-07-29T17:18:52Z")
For the record, another vote against avatars. As mentioned earlier, that’s the \*\*majority \*\*opinion, and I don’t see any reason to switch to \*minority \*rule for this particular issue. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/45 "2011-07-29T17:20:40Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Really? So since 99% of boards have avatars I’m going to guess that this is the only board you visit since you’ve made it clear you do not want to hang out with any of “those types”. That works. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/46 "2011-07-29T17:28:47Z")
Seriously? This happens every single time. Did you all read my post? Did you understand it? IF AVATARS ARE ENABLED, YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO SEE THEM. If they turned on avatar support, there would be no change from your end. Maybe you’d see a thread in MPSIMS about avatars. Every once in a while, there will be a post saying, “Oh, that’s funny given your avatar” but that’s no different than the “I think my signature is appropriate here” which you can’t see either, if you have signatures turned off. Turning on avatars is a plus for a portion of the membership and a neutral for everyone else. It is not a minus. And the “other boards have them so let’s not,” is a crap argument. Other boards post in english, should we post in esperanto, just to be different? Other boards use colored fonts, should we eliminate those just to be different? I’m guessing that most people use the remember me function, which means that if they turned them on without telling anyone, it would be days or weeks before any of the regular members noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/47 "2011-07-29T17:31:25Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Really? So since 99% of boards have avatars I’m going to guess that this is the only board you visit since you’ve made it clear you do not want to hang out with any of “those types”. i wonder if this is true? Is there a way to search, say, the top 100 boards to see what percentage use avatars? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/48 "2011-07-29T17:32:12Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Seriously? This happens every single time. Did you all read my post? Did you understand it? IF AVATARS ARE ENABLED, YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO SEE THEM. If they turned on avatar support, there would be no change from your end. Maybe you’d see a thread in MPSIMS about avatars. Every once in a while, there will be a post saying, “Oh, that’s funny given your avatar” but that’s no different than the “I think my signature is appropriate here” which you can’t see either, if you have signatures turned off. Turning on avatars is a plus for a portion of the membership and a neutral for everyone else. It is not a minus. And the “other boards have them so let’s not,” is a crap argument. Other boards post in english, should we post in esperanto, just to be different? Other boards use colored fonts, should we eliminate those just to be different? I’m guessing that most people use the remember me function, which means that if they turned them on without telling anyone, it would be days or weeks before any of the regular members noticed. Those are reasonable points. I’m still against allowing avatars even in those conditions. ---
**Author:** ![BDBoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@BDBoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDBoop)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/49 "2011-07-29T17:34:04Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Seriously? This happens every single time. Did you all read my post? Did you understand it? IF AVATARS ARE ENABLED, YOU HAVE TO MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO SEE THEM. If they turned on avatar support, there would be no change from your end. Maybe you’d see a thread in MPSIMS about avatars. Every once in a while, there will be a post saying, “Oh, that’s funny given your avatar” but that’s no different than the “I think my signature is appropriate here” which you can’t see either, if you have signatures turned off. Turning on avatars is a plus for a portion of the membership and a neutral for everyone else. It is not a minus. And the “other boards have them so let’s not,” is a crap argument. Other boards post in english, should we post in esperanto, just to be different? Other boards use colored fonts, should we eliminate those just to be different? I’m guessing that most people use the remember me function, which means that if they turned them on without telling anyone, it would be days or weeks before any of the regular members noticed. I’m reasonably intelligent but I have no idea what you’re trying to say. Conscious effort to see them? I’ve seen none. Am I unconscious? Or have I just not been in a thread where such a person was posting. Or are you saying I need to go to their profile, and see their avatar there, and then I’ll have something to remember them by. Seriously. Y’all are probably just swell, but I know message boards are not ‘one size fits all’, and I may have landed somewhere I’m just not meant to be. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/50 "2011-07-29T17:38:43Z")
> [@BDBoop](#): > > Seriously. Y’all are probably just swell, but I know message boards are not ‘one size fits all’, and I may have landed somewhere I’m just not meant to be. You seem pretty reasonable and well spoken (well written?), just develop a thicker skin and you’ll fit in all right I think. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/51 "2011-07-29T17:41:07Z")
> [@BDBoop](#): > > I’m reasonably intelligent but I have no idea what you’re trying to say. Conscious effort to see them? I’ve seen none. Am I unconscious? Or have I just not been in a thread where such a person was posting. Or are you saying I need to go to their profile, and see their avatar there, and then I’ll have something to remember them by. **BDBoop** , what **Stickler** is saying is that IF avatars were allowed it would not be a problem because no one would see them if they did not want to because you have to agree to see them with board settings. Therefore, we should have them. They are agreeing with you. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/52 "2011-07-29T17:44:24Z")
Caveat, I’m confused. Am I one person or multiple people? 😛 _tosses Frodo into Mt. Doom_ ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/53 "2011-07-29T17:52:07Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > ::strokes beard:: > > On the other hand, why bother not complaining? Shall we give in to the beardless upstarts? > > ::strokes beard:: _And the parting on the left are now parting on the right. And the beards have all grown longer overnight._ ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/54 "2011-07-29T17:53:41Z")
Well, I think that is between you and your shrink. I just don’t know if you are male or female and hate he/she or saying someones name over and over more then I hate using ‘they’ improperly. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/55 "2011-07-29T17:55:38Z")
And again, I think avatars should be enabled for paying members and staff/SDSAB. This solves so many problems: - People who want them can have them. - Trolls, spammers, and other idiots don’t generally fork out cash to then do their best to break the rules. And staff have to be trusted to some extent, otherwise why are they in the position they’re in? - As has been posted a billion times before, anyone who doesn’t want to see the avatars can opt-out with a single button click. Like it or not, avatars attract new members and views. This increases advertising revenue. Increased revenue means better SDMB health. If the Staff on here think that they will have problems Moderating, then talk to Ed. Tell him the plan is quite simply “zero tolerance” with avatars. Porn/goatse avatar? Avatar that tries to circumvent the rules? Avatar that gets a legitimate copyright violation claim? Then that’s a banning, no suspensions, no waffling, the Moderator just clicks the button and moves on with life. Simple, elegant, and munificent. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/56 "2011-07-29T17:58:17Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > - As has been posted a billion times before, anyone who doesn’t want to see the avatars can opt-out with a single button click. It’s not even that strenuous. It’s opt-in. Don’t want to see avatars? You must do – nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/57 "2011-07-29T17:58:23Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Caveat, I’m confused. Am I one person or multiple people? 😛 > > _tosses Frodo into Mt. Doom_ Hey! Only part of my finger goes there!. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/58 "2011-07-29T18:06:19Z")
> [@BDBoop](#): > > Thank you. > > I don’t suppose you offer refunds. No, we do not. ---
**Author:** ![BDBoop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@BDBoop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDBoop)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/59 "2011-07-29T18:06:21Z")
> [@Caveat\_lector\_1](#): > > **BDBoop** , what **Stickler** is saying is that IF avatars were allowed it would not be a problem because no one would see them if they did not want to because you have to agree to see them with board settings. Therefore, we should have them. They are agreeing with you. Well, thank you. 🙂 Meh. I’ll just take some time, and adjust. This is still the best board I’ve found on my recently begun sojourn, avatars or no. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594/60 "2011-07-29T18:13:07Z")
Welcome. Take your time learn how things are. Don’t get offended too easily. You’ll learn who people are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatars/590594.md?page=4)