Quote:
Originally Posted by kennyc
Yes avatars and pseudonyms. Some use the avatar to push their agenda -- those bother me. I also hate animated avatars because they are so distracting as I'm trying to read. I prefer people use their real names so automatically discount any postings made under an assumed name.
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I don't mind animated avatars if they're not obnoxious. (My default LJ/IJ/DW icon is animated.) I don't care about "real names" vs user names, just about some level of integrity.
I'm elfwreck everywhere I am online (and so is my husband; elfwreck is an acronym of our legal names), except for Dreamwidth, where I'm just elf. There are forums I'm on where it's not safe to use my legal name; we don't live in a discrimination-free society, and it's never a good idea to talk about kids & family details freely with strangers. Having a username lets me put a layer of privacy between the web and my in-person life. Using the same username across multiple sites lets me establish some accountability.
I'm used to forums where people have non-legal usernames, and avatars are part of how they choose to identify themselves. I tend to think of them as comparable to "clothes"--not an essential part of the person, but which ones they choose do say something about how they want to be perceived, and what kinds of reactions they want.
Because of long experience with LiveJournal, I tend to assume everyone is female unless their username or chosen icon strongly indicates otherwise.