this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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in what ways do you think kbin should strive to be different from Reddit?

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[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

profile pictures. it can lead to bias and even be used as a vehicle for propaganda.

there should at least be an option to hide them.

[โ€“] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Propaganda??? I personally like pfps/avatars and think they're an important part of any traditional forum. Identity is important in communities and I think they help facilitate that. I just wish that I could adjust the size of the on Kbin because they're way too small for me. ๐Ÿฅฒ But you should always have the option to hide them as well.

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Exactly. They're a way to get to know people a little better by seeing what they chose to present to the world alongside their username.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I noticed them on Lemmy and thought they might be a good way to remember people I interact with. There were too many people on Reddit, so I hardly ever bothered looking at user names. The avatars stand out better and remind me of forums.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Identity

Reddit's number one, two, three,....,ten, reason for existing is anonymity. That's what set it apart from all other social media. People on reddit are their content, nothing else. What you post is everything, and the human behind is irrelevant. It saddens me that the new "alternatives" immediately went in a different direction.

[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, I have a very different perspective haha I very much prefer to connect to real humans and for that to be a focus, which is why I made an account here. I never, ever posted on Reddit unless I had an issue I needed help with as a last resort before seeking out an irl resource, mostly because it never felt like a community to me; it felt like you were reading random people responding to each other in the same vain as Twitter. This is my first time actually posting anything publicly since I was active on a a particular forum from like 2013-2015. But I can understand your perspective all the same.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm with you. Anonymity is great, but I also miss the old days when you would become familiar with your forum community, and felt that little spark of joy when someone you recognize or value engaged with your post. The only time I experienced that on reddit was in r/stalker (video game series, not a group of savvy human stalkers). There was a particular user that I really got on well with, bearing the same faction patch/flair as I did. Every now and then I'd see him in the wild and drop a reply to say hello. A small conversation would always follow.

Beyond that, I never really recognized or paid much attention at all to usernames at all, save for blocking Gallowboob and his constant front-page content. I think so long as avatars aren't overtly political or inflammatory, they're pretty harmless.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I personally give zero fucks about anonymity (I know for a fact that it's possible to find my real name from this username), but I do understand that a lot of people are very keen on anonymity for a wide variety of reasons.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

If anything, I think they help counteract propaganda! They make it easier to see that, say every comment pushing a certain product or point of view in your favorite community are all being made by the same handful of accounts, which is a red flag an influence campaign might be going on.

[โ€“] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Don't know if you mean that profile pictures hiding should be a magazine specific setting, but you personally can hide profile pictures (and magazine logos) in your side bar settings.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That feature doesnt work for me on kbin.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thats strange.. works for me on latest firefox browser.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Firefox here too, setting does nothing for me, same on mobile ff.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Nevermind, cleared cache and refreshed the page and set them again to display and then hide again - you are right it's broken. Hopefully they fix it soon.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

In the wrong hands sure, but IMO it feels like a way to get to know the person you're talking to just a little better by seeing what they chose to present to the world alongside their username

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Was super annoying to have them on reddit, glad one can disable it here.