this post was submitted on 29 May 2025
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In comment sections or in community pages, it's mostly an ocean of default avatars.

As a UI developer, that's always been a gripe because I put a lot of effort into making them look good and scale properly, etc. When I see 60-70% or more accounts sporting the default avatar, it makes me wonder why I even bother.

So, since this bugs me so much, figured I'd just ask.

Lemm.ee users I can understand because of the waiting period for uploads, but AFAIK, most instances don't have that restriction. Even then, there are plenty of .ee accounts that never bother to go back and set one.

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[–] nik9000@programming.dev 25 points 1 day ago (2 children)

My literal first reaction was “we have avatars?”

[–] jnod4@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] KittyKalledKarma@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 day ago

We've got Avatar's now?

[–] Arcane2077@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

why would I set a custom avatar?

[–] foxlore@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago

When I first set up my account I could not find where to add an avatar (I didn't really look that hard) I figured I would get back to it later and only remembered about it from this post.

[–] AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 day ago

Accounts come and go, but shitposting is forever.

Avatars aren't info. They just clutter the screen. They very, very rarely are interesting. At worst, they show something inappropriate. They require moderation. They don't match any aesthetic of the site.

I literally didn't know they were supported and never see them anyway.

[–] QualifiedKitten@discuss.online 1 points 22 hours ago

I find both avatars and display names annoying and distracting. If they're enabled by default, I turn them off.

It is irrelevant.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago

I don't even see it on voyager. I don't know why I would want an avatar anyway.

[–] sibannac@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't even see or care to see avatars. Its just clutter imo.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah same. Does Connect even have a setting for that? I mean I won't use it; I guess I never bothered to look is all.

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[–] Amanduh@lemm.ee 12 points 1 day ago

I don't care enough

[–] zanyllama52@infosec.pub 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I gots one, they're just fun

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 3 points 1 day ago

(Clicks on your avatar)

Not sure what I'm looking at, but can confirm it's fun!

[–] letsgo@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

I don't see the point. Even on my monster screen they're only 6mm² so if it's anything other than simple line art it's just a small meaningless square of digital noise.

[–] Nachtnebel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Because having a pfp is gay

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 day ago

Guys, I feel like this is a joke rather than an insult. This person has a profile picture.

[–] zqps@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Because a lot of people don't see a benefit in being recognized when pseudonymously interacting with strangers. And in some apps they aren't displayed at all.

[–] marzhall@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

Heck, I was salty when the old site added avatars. I already ignored names and was weirded out by "popular redditors" culture before avatars, and it was annoying to see a logo next to a name coloring my perception of the comment. I'm here to read comments, not to look at avatars

[–] insaneinthemembrane@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My app either doesn't show them or it's off by default. I didn't know there were avatars but I'm not interested in them either since I'm reading on my phone and prefer a minimalist view.

[–] Onionguy@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

Same. No avatars shown in voyager.

[–] anachrohack@lemmy.world 31 points 2 days ago

My reader doesn't even show avatars

[–] BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

I haven't cared about stuff like that since I was 15

[–] RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world 157 points 3 days ago (2 children)

because it doesn't matter at all

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 39 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Why the fuck would I ever want to do that? I don't even want people I know knowing who I am.

Keep my name out ya goddamn mouth — Will Smith probably

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[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I have avatars disabled

[–] Mmagnusson@programming.dev 44 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago

Legit my reaction just now.

[–] Gumbyyy@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

I had no idea Lemmy even had avatars until I read this post. So I went into my profile out of curiosity - even though I already had "Show Avatars" checked, I've never seen a user's avatar on here before. I did upload one for my own profile though for the hell of it.

[–] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 125 points 3 days ago (12 children)

On Voyager I can't even see avatars or custom usernames

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[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Most clients dont show them

[–] moseschrute@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Maybe it’s time for a new app 👀

[–] brb@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 days ago

I hid them to keep the comment section clean looking

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 27 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (8 children)

Almost every app for Lemmy I have tried does not even have them visible by default and require you to manually turn them on. If their only experience is using an app, they might not even know you can have an avatar.

[–] sixty@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago
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procrastination of drawing one

[–] Zenith@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

Idk how to use anything here

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 56 points 3 days ago (4 children)

I don't see avatars in my app and I don't really care to. Never had them in early reddit and that's what I'm trying to replicate.

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[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 54 points 3 days ago (8 children)

Even though I tend to comment somewhat frequently, I prefer to be just "another voice in the crowd" I don't really want to be more easily recognized lol

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[–] InfiniteHench@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Dang I thought I had. Thanks for the reminder - fixed!

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 2 points 1 day ago

Nicely done!

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Because I don't care about it and it makes no difference. They only show in your profile and I don't look at my profile. The only people that do look at your profile are the people going there to try and find something to use against you.

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[–] OldManBOMBIN@lemmy.world 49 points 3 days ago (4 children)
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[–] IronKrill@lemmy.ca 13 points 2 days ago

I disable avatar display on all my clients. Reddit and it's siblings like Lemmy have historically been less person-focused than other websites, and many of us like to keep it that way. While it can be neat to recognise people, I only need their user handle to do so and I only check if necessary. It's nice to take a comment at it's value without regard for who said it. Reddit's push towards personifying their users is part of why I left.

In voyager your can’t see avatars. A lot of people use voyager.

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