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Comment by jcw | Hacker News Reader

I think the community seems so large here because it's hard to identify people and their patterns, everyone seems so anonymous. I think this is easier on forums where people have avatars. Keeping with the minimalism of HN, maybe a small signature icon could appear next to people's names. A 10x10 pixel image with colors randomly picked upon registering. Maybe not the best approach, but I'd like to see something that would help identify people. The mind can pick out patterns of images much more quickly than text.

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Please no.

HN has its shortcomings but lack of avatars isn't one of them.

The quality of the postings here is of a way above average level compared with that on other sites that offer a way to discuss links related to programming and surprisingly wide area to the left and right of that.

Avatars are for people that don't want to read, the usernames are more than descriptive enough, and offer everything from mechanical fishes to Daniel B Markhams, so no lack of expressivity there.

The only people that would use avatars (I think) would be those that are normally found in troll territory.

I think that HN really rewards the time you put in to it, by loading up HN with more bells and whistles the quality is not going to go up.

Less = More.

I have a great mechanical fish ready to photograph in case of emergency.

That said, I agree that avatars are not a good idea. I like them on a lot of sites, and I like the idea of HN as a community, but it really is supposed to be all about the words. Let's keep using words.

I've always thought that the visual design of this site (or lack of it, as PG sometimes jokes) was a big part of why it's developed into what it has.

This site appeals to the same kind of person who can appreciate the utility and straight forwardness of a command line. Conversely, I like to think the site will not appeal to those who might look at a command line and break out into a cold sweat.

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