# Should we allow Avatars **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237 "2011-08-02T23:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/61 "2011-08-03T18:18:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Moderator Warning]Infraction for failure to follow moderator instructions given in post #53.[/Moderator Warning] I wasn’t **debating**. I was clarifying my use of of the previous thread, much as I am now. It’s convenient you made that point directly after the post I responded to, which by your standard, was also a “debate.” I’m just glad we have someone\* completely impartial \*on the matter enforcing the rules. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/62 "2011-08-03T18:18:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Moderator Warning]Infraction for failure to follow moderator instructions given in post #53.[/Moderator Warning] Bit harsh don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/63 "2011-08-03T18:21:55Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Bit harsh don’t you think? Thank you, sir 🙂 /this message, though a response, is not a debate, Czarcasm ---
**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:** [August 3, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/64 "2011-08-03T18:22:18Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > I wasn’t **debating**. I was clarifying my use of of the previous thread, much as I am now. It’s convenient you made that point directly after the post I responded to, which by your standard, was also a “debate.” > > I’m just glad we have someone\* completely impartial \*on the matter enforcing the rules. :rolleyes: [Mod Note]If you wish to have a civil discourse as to my ruling, you may do so in ATMB, not here.[/Mod Note] ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/65 "2011-08-03T18:38:14Z")
This question never seems to die out. Yet, again and again, the polls come out the same every time. The majority do not care for avatars. Yes, I am aware that it sucks to be on the minority side. While I feel your pain, please, please, please, I’m begging you, quit beating this dead horse already. If avatars are all that to you, make the experience every so much better, in your experience, there is no shortage of boards that allow them. If it’s really cramping your style to not have a cutesy photo attached to your every post then seek out a board that agrees with you, and provides this outlet for your creativity. We want you to be happy, really. Because it’s incredibly tiresome to just keep bringing it up, again and again. We get it. Some people like them. Doesn’t change that, as a group, we’re, by majority, not for them. How many times does it need to be illustrated before you’ll get it? ---
**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:** [August 3, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/66 "2011-08-03T18:41:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Mod Note]If you wish to have a civil discourse as to my ruling, you may do so in ATMB, not here.[/Mod Note] So noted in the ATMB thread. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/67 "2011-08-03T18:42:16Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > This question never seems to die out. > > Yet, again and again, the polls come out the same every time. The majority do not care for avatars. > > Yes, I am aware that it sucks to be on the minority side. While I feel your pain, please, please, please, I’m begging you, quit beating this dead horse already. > > If avatars are all that to you, make the experience every so much better, in your experience, there is no shortage of boards that allow them. If it’s really cramping your style to not have a cutesy photo attached to your every post then seek out a board that agrees with you, and provides this outlet for your creativity. We want you to be happy, really. > > Because it’s incredibly tiresome to just keep bringing it up, again and again. We get it. Some people like them. Doesn’t change that, as a group, we’re, by majority, not for them. > > How many times does it need to be illustrated before you’ll get it? Sigh. [Moderator Warning]Infraction for failure to follow moderator instructions given in post #53.[/Moderator Warning] ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/68 "2011-08-03T18:53:24Z")
As I posted in the ATMB thread, I would pay to have an avatar (like somethingawful does, 5 or 10 bucks). That the board owner would actively turn away free money is foolish in the _extreme_. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/69 "2011-08-03T19:07:59Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > As I posted in the ATMB thread, I would pay to have an avatar (like somethingawful does, 5 or 10 bucks). That the board owner would actively turn away free money is foolish in the _extreme_. Yes, you pointed it out in the ATMB thread, _then you repeated here after being told not to debate in this thread, and after two other posters had been given infractions for the same thing._ [Moderator Warning]Infraction for failure to follow moderator instructions.[/Moderator Warning] ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/70 "2011-08-03T19:43:00Z")
_sigh._ Failure to understand that asking someone to quit beating a dead horse already, is not a debate. But whatever. You’re clearly enjoying yourself so have at it. Going for a new personal best perhaps? Most warnings in one thread - woohoo! ---
**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:** [August 3, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/71 "2011-08-03T20:31:09Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I, for one, am opposed. I think they’re juvenile and pointless. In addition, I think that, rather than allowing for poster differentiation, they influence poster perception. > > Then again, I’d be all for them if they were required to be a picture of the posters face. An honest identifier is better than any other thing. I also have, over the years, become in favor of the elimination of handles as usernames and would prefer that we used our real names for our usernames. Internet anonymity disturbs me. > > Lest others accuse me of hypocrisy due to my use of a handle I offer this: > > 1. At the time of my registering I hadn’t thought this through. > 2. It seems like a ‘sailed ship’ > 3. I have posted my name on the board and other places. > 4. My name is shared (curiously) with a semi-famous musician, it’s unusual and I’ve been mistaken for him before, both on the boards here and in the staff report I wrote. > 5. A godawful number of members (both current and former) know me personally at this point and have been hosted at my home (both in Virginia and Ohio) > 6. I maintained this stance even during the time where my name, posts and opinions were public (even the extreme ones) and I was a candidate for public office and those could be used against me. > > In short, anything that detracts or takes away from the actual identity (not ‘Online identity’) of the poster is a bad thing. One should have the courage to be who you are and not hide behind handles or pictures or whatnot. [Moderator Warning]Infraction for failure to follow a moderator’s instructions.[/Moderator Warning] ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/72 "2011-08-03T20:33:19Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > _sigh._ > > Failure to understand that asking someone to quit beating a dead horse already, is not a debate. > > But whatever. You’re clearly enjoying yourself so have at it. Going for a new personal best perhaps? Most warnings in one thread - woohoo! Seeing that the results thus far are rather close, I’d like to leave this open to give more people a chance to vote. But if you all don’t stop biting at each other, this thread won’t be open much longer. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/73 "2011-08-03T20:58:22Z")
I’d be cool with avatars like Snopes’ - 48x48 non-animated. For those wondering, it’s [this big](http://www.mricons.com/store/png/117790_35355_48_48x48_d20_icon.png)! Enough for a little personality, but not too distracting. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/74 "2011-08-03T22:15:38Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m wondering what the purpose of this poll is, when it has already been stated in the other thread on this subject by the pro-avatar contingent that (paraphrasing)“We don’t care if we are in the minority-we want them anyway.”? Will this poll be used as proof that we should have them if the majority votes that way, but dismissed as inconsequential if they don’t? One cannot help but wonder why this commentary received no warning. This is no closer to debate than any of the other comments that drew warnings. Why is it okay for a mod to ‘remark’ but not posters? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/75 "2011-08-03T22:39:39Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > One cannot help but wonder why this commentary received no warning. This is no closer to debate than any of the other comments that drew warnings. Why is it okay for a mod to ‘remark’ but not posters? [Moderator Note] Discussion of moderator actions goes in ATMB. If you want to discuss it, open a thread there. Colibri ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/76 "2011-08-03T22:48:16Z")
n/m ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/77 "2011-08-04T00:06:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [Moderator Note] > > Discussion of moderator actions goes in ATMB. If you want to discuss it, open a thread there. > > Colibri Dammit, Colibri! I was about to ask how 16 points represents ‘close’ in a world where Reagan/Mondale was a landslide at 18 points! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/78 "2011-08-04T00:08:11Z")
> [@Mewl\_Dear](#): > > No-brainer. We can make half the people happy by not allowing them or we can make 100% happy by making it optional. Please don’t speak for me. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/79 "2011-08-04T03:17:32Z")
Making it “optional” is still forcing it on people who don’t want it. When this board is full of threads like “become your avatar” and comments about them, it’ll be negatively intruding on them. It’ll also make people care about who is saying things, rather than what they are saying. Shesh! I don’t even like post counts. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-allow-avatars/591237/80 "2011-08-04T04:26:41Z")
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