# Would it bother you if avatars were allowed, but off by default? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045 "2010-10-04T20:20:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/121 "2010-10-05T21:27:39Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > Most certainly. > > Because I can read. > > This seems inordinately rude for a topic as trivial and insignificant as this one. > > (Yes, yes, I know, it’s the Internet. But still.) > > eta: Ninja’ed by **Giraffe**! I guess post #102 was just fine and dandy, then. Why don’t the both of you go have another read through of this thread just to see where most of the blustering comes from? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/122 "2010-10-05T21:28:44Z")
Only Charter Members should be allowed avatars. And their sock puppets. So it would be just me and **elmwood**. Regards, Shodan \*insert a cutesy little bright pink bear dancing with an elf in an enchanted forest here. \* ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/123 "2010-10-05T21:29:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I guess post #102 was just fine and dandy, then. Why don’t the both of you go have another read through of this thread just to see where most of the blustering comes from? Oh, I didn’t realize you thought someone had insulted you first. Never mind, deepest apologies. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/124 "2010-10-05T21:29:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I guess post #102 was just fine and dandy, then. Why don’t the both of you go have another read through of this thread just to see where most of the blustering comes from? Two wrongs don’t make a right, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/125 "2010-10-05T21:35:28Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I could “solve” the problem by wearing a grocery bag on my head. Hey – that right there would be the PERFECT avatar for you! ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/126 "2010-10-05T21:36:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Sarahfeena](#): > > > > Maybe you could do the same. He was responding to **Palooka** > > Easy mistake to make given the hyperbole and the placement of the posts. Maybe. It’s just that the rudeness of your rejoinder made the mistake seem so much more foolish than it would have otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/127 "2010-10-05T21:51:17Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > > > Yeah, you can turn them off. And if my neighborhood were littered with scattered trash, rusted car-hulks perched on blocks bleeding oil across cracked driveways, shattered crackpipes and used condoms, waist-high crabgrass, and defeated armies of pink plastic flamingos, I could “solve” the problem by wearing a grocery bag on my head. > > Oh, VT, normally I think you’re awesome, but dude. Worst. analogy. ever. I thought the earlier NYT analogy was as bad as they got, but he went ahead and topped it. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/128 "2010-10-05T21:54:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I guess post #102 was just fine and dandy, then. No, post #102 was pretty rude, too. But overall if this is a rudeness contest, then I would say that you are winning. First prize is whatever oil-soaked engine blocks and rusted car hulks I can scavenge up from around here. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/129 "2010-10-05T21:59:35Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > This also applies to the look of the site to outsiders – we’d look exactly the same to random passersby – so the analogy of a neighborhood “littered with scattered trash, rusted car-hulks perched on blocks bleeding oil across cracked driveways, shattered crackpipes and used condoms, waist-high crabgrass, and defeated armies of pink plastic flamingos” isn’t quite apt. What can I say… I’ve been missing the old neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/130 "2010-10-05T22:02:44Z")
I lose track of who is who here at the SDMB all the time. I don’t have that problem on other message boards, LiveJournal, Facebook, or any other site where people are allowed to have a small avatar. I am a very visual person and I’m very bad with names. Add to that my eye sort of skips over the Name line for some reason (I’ve tried to train myself out of this to no avail) and the answer I get is that I’d have a lot easier time keeping track of who is who and what they’ve said if we had avatars. They don’t have to be big or anything. 40x40 and only for those who turned them on on purpose–how is that damaging the board for those who don’t want them? I fail to see it. Note: I’ve also rarely seen much confusion between those with similar avatars–it just doesn’t come up all that often and when it does you can look at the name as an extra bit of info, and I’ve not see massive widespread avatar abuse in the form of inappropriate images. Nor have I seen any other major problems with having some sort of avatar. Where I HAVE seen problems is signature images, but nobody is suggesting that here. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/131 "2010-10-05T22:03:40Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > > [@SoulFrost](#): > > > > …I’d be worried about otherwise perfectly good threads being peppered with posts like > > > > the problems from which would only be compounded by the Blind not knowing what the Seers were talking about. > > Okay, you’ve convinced me. Too bad I can’t change my vote. I’d leave avatars off, but had voted that I wouldn’t care about other people’s use. Only took eleven years, but I’ve finally convinced somebody of something! I guess my work is done here… > [@elmwood](#): > > This is all pointless, anyhow. Many have argued for avatars in the past, and gotten nowhere. The people that don’t want them don’t want them for everybody, perhaps in the Aspie spirit of there only being one correct way to do something… Ya mean like there being only one way to present a message board? Why should the Dope have avatars and polls and all the glitzy fluff that every other board in the entire mother-lovin’ world has? Why can’t we be a lean, mean, ignorance-fighting machine? ---
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/132 "2010-10-05T22:05:09Z")
If there were any justice in the world **elmwood** ’s [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12989359&postcount=36) would have ended this discussion and the SD elves would be busy setting up avatar functionality as we speak. * * * I voted for “I don’t mind, and I’d turn avatars on” (or however it was phrased). I often lose track of who said what on these forums, and by the same token, people often confuse me with other posters with similar names, like **Muffin** , **Miller** or **Shijinn** (yes, I’ve kept a spreadsheet of “people who need to change their SD name”) Another option would be to allow you to choose an avatar from a set of say 50 hosted on SD. They can be abstract and tastefully designed. But in any case, if they’re disable-able (:)), I really don’t see why there’s a problem. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/133 "2010-10-05T22:15:02Z")
If we had avatars here, this would be my first one - [OMG! Lemurs!](http://swongled.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/lemur.jpg) Now, who doesn’t want to see that? I submit to you that every single poster’s day would be improved by seeing that. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/134 "2010-10-05T22:29:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > > > Did I say there’s a picture of me that will enhance people’s opinion of me? Perhaps for some it will. But enhancement is irrelevant. I want an avatar. You have no argument against me having an avatar other than you don’t like them. Why does your distaste trump my desire? Especially when my having one impacts no one but those who enjoy avatars. > > My distaste does not trump your desire, but also your desire does not invalidate my distaste. You and others wish to have a say on the matter-be ready to hear opposing opinions without mocking them or creating absurd strawmen out of them. I’m really very curious: if you don’t have avatars on, how would you be able to perceive the changes caused by avatars? Do you feel that people that would not have previously stayed around due to lack of avatars will now remain on this board? And that those people that are attracted to having visual imagery associated with their identity are generally less insightful? ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/135 "2010-10-05T23:10:23Z")
I’d say something like that. Avatars encourage community over discussion, or something. That’s the change I saw in a Warcraft III strategy forum after it upgraded its backend with avatar-enabled software. It went from replay-focused discussion to cliques. The same thing is true of a Diablo 2 site. Once people are able to track each other, everything gets cliquey and then you get drama and then its another cesspit. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/136 "2010-10-06T00:23:18Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > I’d say something like that. Avatars encourage community over discussion, or something. That’s the change I saw in a Warcraft III strategy forum after it upgraded its backend with avatar-enabled software. It went from replay-focused discussion to cliques. The same thing is true of a Diablo 2 site. Once people are able to track each other, everything gets cliquey and then you get drama and then its another cesspit. But according to anti-avatareans upthread, avatars don’t aid with “tracking each other.” So do they not work or do they work too well? _sinister music_ ---
**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:** [October 6, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/137 "2010-10-06T02:09:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I guess post #102 was just fine and dandy, then. Why don’t the both of you go have another read through of this thread just to see where most of the blustering comes from? If you feel another poster is insulting you, do not respond in kind but rather use the report post button at the top of the post to alert the moderators. And I have not invalidated your distaste. I’m not sure why you’re not getting this but it is posible to set up the board so that I can have avatars at NO COST to you. Now, I am happy with avatars, you are happy without and we can all sit around the cammpfire and sing kumbayah. Why is the happiness of other people so anathema to you, Czarcasm? Why? _Lone tear runs down my face_ ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/138 "2010-10-06T02:12:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > > > If only those were easy to remember…you know, like a picture. > > And how would you propose ensuring that no two pictures were alike? Why would there be the need? Not that this would be a problem. Sure isn’t common out there on more modern boards. > [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I am going to assume that the people who are deeply concerned about similar/identical avatars have never gone to any other message board, or Facebook, where people use avatars or profile pictures all the time and this is really not a major problem. Right. > [@Palooka](#): > > It turns into an arms race of ever more obnoxious images as people try to stand out. You need to visit some avatar enabled boards. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/139 "2010-10-06T02:24:27Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > _Lone tear runs down my face_ I feel like I’m in a PSA about litter. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045/140 "2010-10-06T03:41:44Z")
So liberal, and yet so conservative. I’m in favor of avatars, but they’ll never happen here unless they charge for them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-avatars-were-allowed-but-off-by-default/556045.md?page=8)