I’m pretty in favor of this, as I was the one who suggested this in the feature suggestion thread before. There was some discourse there on the pros and cons of this idea.
I would say though that the readership data feature is likely a lot more valuable, and this one as 2nd most valuable among the PR FAQs posted.
If anyone wants to see mockups of what profile pictures would look like on the frontpage, on posts, and on comments sections, I made some here before. Though it seems like the PR FAQ above states the profile pictures won’t be shown on the comments section or Frontpage section. I think it should be shown on one or both of those sections, because it’s a lot rarer for people to click in to people’s profiles, and the comments section and Frontpage would likely seem more lively and welcoming that way. Though adding photos to comments may be a bit more difficult to implement.
I like Aaron’s point that people who don’t want to use their personal images can use a more generic image, like quite a few people do on Twitter. It would be great though if both of these were true within 2-3 months of the feature’s launch:
at least 20% of active Forum authors/commenters at a given time used their own faces
at least 40% of active Forum authors/commenters at a given time had a non-blank image
I don’t think this feature would be worth building if both of the two things above did not happen. I’m not sure if 2-3 months is enough time to have people put photos—maybe a strong nudge is needed to have someone use their Gravatar photo or to upload a profile photo. Maybe that would be needed to reach the numbers above.
If the EA Forum had a poll feature, maybe we would have an easier time knowing how willing and/or interested current Forum users are to either adding their own face or a non-blank image. I’d be willing to say that this feature shouldn’t be built if like >80% of people who vote on that poll (assuming they are somewhat representative of active Forum authors/commenters) said they wouldn’t want to upload their own photo.
Maybe the poll feature should be a PR FAQ in the future!
Oh and longer-term, like a year after the launch of this feature, I think it would be ideal if at least 40% of active Forum authors/commenters at a given time used their own faces, and 60-70% had a non-blank image.
I’m pretty in favor of this, as I was the one who suggested this in the feature suggestion thread before. There was some discourse there on the pros and cons of this idea.
I would say though that the readership data feature is likely a lot more valuable, and this one as 2nd most valuable among the PR FAQs posted.
If anyone wants to see mockups of what profile pictures would look like on the frontpage, on posts, and on comments sections, I made some here before. Though it seems like the PR FAQ above states the profile pictures won’t be shown on the comments section or Frontpage section. I think it should be shown on one or both of those sections, because it’s a lot rarer for people to click in to people’s profiles, and the comments section and Frontpage would likely seem more lively and welcoming that way. Though adding photos to comments may be a bit more difficult to implement.
I like Aaron’s point that people who don’t want to use their personal images can use a more generic image, like quite a few people do on Twitter. It would be great though if both of these were true within 2-3 months of the feature’s launch:
at least 20% of active Forum authors/commenters at a given time used their own faces
at least 40% of active Forum authors/commenters at a given time had a non-blank image
I don’t think this feature would be worth building if both of the two things above did not happen. I’m not sure if 2-3 months is enough time to have people put photos—maybe a strong nudge is needed to have someone use their Gravatar photo or to upload a profile photo. Maybe that would be needed to reach the numbers above.
If the EA Forum had a poll feature, maybe we would have an easier time knowing how willing and/or interested current Forum users are to either adding their own face or a non-blank image. I’d be willing to say that this feature shouldn’t be built if like >80% of people who vote on that poll (assuming they are somewhat representative of active Forum authors/commenters) said they wouldn’t want to upload their own photo.
Maybe the poll feature should be a PR FAQ in the future!
Oh and longer-term, like a year after the launch of this feature, I think it would be ideal if at least 40% of active Forum authors/commenters at a given time used their own faces, and 60-70% had a non-blank image.