I'm the same way, I'm usually not able to associate a username with a set of posts unless I've either met them in person or seen a picture of them online. That said, I think we'd be losing more than we'd be gaining by adding pictures.
The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
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Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
#22Have you seen some of these guys? Hey -- count your blessings. (Just kidding!)
Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
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#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Digg comments aren't bad because they have pictures. They are bad because they are from that set of commenters. If you supposed the set of Hacker News commenters didn't change, I think pictures would clearly be a win. What you seem to be suggesting is that by adding pictures, we would attract bad commenters. I just don't think that is true.
"Digg comments aren't bad because they have pictures. They are bad because they are from that set of commenters." I think it's as much the social norms as the user base. For example, we have kind of an unspoken humor armistice here. Normally humor is used to demonstrate intelligence. However, it's mutually understood that everyone here is intelligent enough to make the appropriate joke, but that we should refrain bec…
Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
#25I'm the same way, I'm usually not able to associate a username with a set of posts unless I've either met them in person or seen a picture of them online. That said, I think we'd be losing more than we'd be gaining by adding pictures.
What would we be losing?
Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
#26Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
#27Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's exactly the problem I am describing. They are making their own portraits, but they aren't sticking to their usernames, at least for me. A visual icon would help. It could be small, 25x25 as someone suggested.
25x25 is pretty big. I think it would be clever to make it 15x15 or 10x10...
Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
#29I would argue for incremental improvements to the interface: iPhone friendly version no more odd page parameters that timeout without a page refresh
Re: The case for pictures next to usernames on Hacker News
#30I think it's better if people make their own portraits with their ideas.