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I did not want avatars per se, though they would have probably fulfilled my request. All I was asking for was some pictorial cue to better associate user names
by epi0Bauqu 18y ago
I did not want avatars per se, though they would have probably fulfilled my request. All I was asking for was some pictorial cue to better associate user names with their set of comments. It could be randomly generated. It is a memory thing.
That being said, humans have evolved to remember faces at a very intricate and ingrained level, so perhaps faces would be best. In any case, I said "pictures next to user names," not avatars.
What I was looking for seemed to get lost in peoples' emotional reactions to digg and other social networking sites, as they are here.
Once you know you like submissions/comments of certain users, I think it would nice to be able to follow them more easily than going through each, one by one, manually. I think this could be done very differently than a buddy list, e.g. an RSS feed or the exact same interface filtered with those users or somehow promoting them.
- shaunxcode 18y agosomeone should download the periodic backups and analyze all posters contributions (setting up synonyms, word-topic groupings etc.) and thus associate a user with an image based off a google image search + grease monkey script for hn. You would obviously want to avoid using the same image twice. You could keep a record of the past images associated with that user as a way to visualize their shift in interests etc. But that would fit your needs with out turning it into a way for people to "express themselves man".
- alaskamiller 18y agoAvatars are just pictures next to user names. Digg has them and it doesn't make the conversation all that better. I actually find clicking on user profiles to be a lot useful. It gives me context as to who you are, Mr. Gabriel Weinberg of Ask YC Archive, as well as memory retention.