# Let's revisit avatars! (Poll) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214 "2009-12-22T17:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/21 "2009-12-22T20:24:18Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Understood, however, your thoughts (and a few others) on the matter don’t address this fact. Rather they seem to almost ignore it for some reason. > > In contrast, **Manda JO** makes a good point. I think it’s a trivial point that can be easily rectified by turning on Avatars temporarily if a thread or post references one, just to see what all the talk is about, then easily turned back off. But I believe these cases would be pretty rare. Rare enough to render this point nominal. For what it’s worth, I don’t think you had anything to apologize for. In fact, I’m more disappointed you found his remarks worthy of a response. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/22 "2009-12-22T20:27:24Z")
I would like avatars as I am better at recognizing images rather than text names and could identify people easier. I am, apparently, in the minority. ---
**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 22, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/23 "2009-12-22T20:49:09Z")
I voted “I don’t care”. By looking at other boards with avatars, it seems to me that a lot of them are supposed to be humorous. By seeing them over and over, it’s like hearing the same joke a bunch of times (or seeing the same signature in a thread over and over), after a while it’s not funny any more. I think they’re more useful (not that the main purpose of an avatar is usefulness, I suppose) when they represent something related to the poster - for example a photo of the person. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/24 "2009-12-22T20:59:21Z")
I like avatars. It’s like having a face to connect to a poster. It makes it easier to find my place in a thread if I’ve posted or where I’ve left off. But if it would interfere with the bandwidth they’re not worth it. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/25 "2009-12-22T21:04:10Z")
I voted no because I think allowing them could foster a “avatar vs non-avatar” vibe. I already envision threads like _“Whose avatar do you like the best?”_, _“What does your Avatar say about you?”_ , or _“Poll: Should I change my avatar?”_. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/26 "2009-12-22T21:05:29Z")
I guess I’d be ok with them if the default for avatars was always off unless the user is logged in and had manually switched them on for viewing. Also, for the record, I don’t think adding them would bring us to the 21st century, I think it’d just bring us _back_ to the early 00s. One final point, I’d rather see the ability to embed pictures in threads any day than avatars. Especially germane pictures in GQ which would help explain X better than a link and wouldn’t cause the servers much grief. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/27 "2009-12-22T21:06:35Z")
There’s an option to turn them off if you don’t want them (I seem to remember having seen that in the options and having heard it a few times somewhere recently, but I don’t remember where), so enable them. Also, enable picture and video embedding as well. I suspect that such a thing brought up would make the stodgy amongst us turn feral, rabid, [del]or Republican[/del]. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/28 "2009-12-22T21:11:19Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > \ > > One final point, I’d rather see the ability to embed pictures in threads any day than avatars. Especially germane pictures in GQ which would help explain X better than a link and wouldn’t cause the servers much grief. Baby steps, baby. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/29 "2009-12-22T21:27:26Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > There’s an option to turn them off if you don’t want them (I seem to remember having seen that in the options and having heard it a few times somewhere recently, but I don’t remember where), so enable them. > > Also, enable picture and video embedding as well. I suspect that such a thing brought up would make the stodgy amongst us turn feral, rabid, [del]or Republican[/del]. Precisely. I’ve never seen so many conservatives on such an overwhelmingly liberal board! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/30 "2009-12-22T21:28:58Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Precisely. I’ve never seen so many conservatives on such an overwhelmingly liberal board! 😛 It’s those persnickety Apple users. Them’s the devil. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/31 "2009-12-22T21:29:39Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Precisely. I’ve never seen so many conservatives on such an overwhelmingly liberal board! 😛 Baby steps, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/32 "2009-12-22T21:40:55Z")
Whoa. I finally voted. 51% want no avatars or anything useful and functional at all with their messageboard? Christ, you guys have either been permanently singed by messageboards with bad taste in pictures and avatars. Make avatars a couple inches square on my screen (hey, fuck resolution. I’m not the computer person around here), make them safe for work, and keep the ability to never see them, just like I never see any of your signatures. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/33 "2009-12-22T21:52:54Z")
I don’t really have strong feelings about it but if I had to choose I’d say “no”. Aren’t user names supposed to serve the purpose of showing off our clever, hilarious, special snowflakedness? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/34 "2009-12-22T21:55:29Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t really have strong feelings about it but if I had to choose I’d say “no”. Aren’t user names supposed to serve the purpose of showing off our clever, hilarious, special snowflakedness? Hence the option to turn them off and never see them. Besides, there’s already a lot of snowflakery with sig lines. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/35 "2009-12-22T22:01:11Z")
Just for the record, my favorite\* message board–where I feel most at home, where people “know” me–has avatars, allows embedded images and videos. I have an avatar there, and I regularly post photos, etc. I don’t mind any of that stuff _over there_, but at the same time I prefer the status quo _over here_. Call me fickle, but don’t call me Shirley. \*sorry, SDMB, you’re #2 😛 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/36 "2009-12-22T22:35:25Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t really have strong feelings about it but if I had to choose I’d say “no”. Aren’t user names supposed to serve the purpose of showing off our clever, hilarious, special snowflakedness? I’m a visual person, and many a time I’ll notice a seemingly “new” poster whom I don’t recall from before, only to notice thousands of posts next to his (her) name. Put an avatar next to the handle, and I’ll immediately note, “Oh, it’s the Crazy Cat Lady! Yeah I remember her.” But NO animated ones, at fucking all. They make me want to put my hand through the screen and strangle the silly essobee who stuck it up there, to dance and jiggle and distract me from reading posts. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/37 "2009-12-22T22:54:05Z")
I say no. I don’t wear T-shirts with pictures or slogans on them either, and that’s what avatars amount to to me. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/38 "2009-12-22T23:14:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The Dope r srs bzns. 😃 > But you still get your serious board if you keep avatars off - what do serious people care if other people are having fun and seeing avatars (other than the afore-mentioned possible discussions of avatars)? I voted no, because in my experience lurking at other boards, avatars are visible to visitors unless they sign in and opt out. I lurked at the SMDB for several months before signing up. I might not have if anyone looking over my shoulder would have seen a screen full of silly and sometimes indecent graphics (not that I’m a prude, but the people looking over my shoulder might have been). _Won’t somebody think of the lurkers?_ If it’s possible to make them invisible by default, even to people who aren’t logged in, then I withdraw my objection. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/39 "2009-12-22T23:24:13Z")
I didn’t know there was an option to turn them off. If I had, I’d have voted the first option. I don’t like them at all, not one bit, but if I can turn them off I don’t care at all. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214/40 "2009-12-23T14:53:58Z")
I like them, but I don’t think they would necessarily add anything to the board. On the other hand, neither do signatures or the ability to use non-alphabetic characters in user names. I voted to allow them, but I won’t care if they don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-revisit-avatars-poll/522214.md?page=3)