Racy Avatars - your input needed

[joos]

racy avatars? what do you mean? hahaha jking

clearly i voted for the 1st option... i think its a good comprimise. that being said, if the majority picks something else, i am fine with that.

i understand if this effects the "business" side of things, then yes, it could be detrimental. however, i see it as... 1) there is already an option to disable avatars... its actually good to pt this out for ppl who didnt know that (myself included). 2) this is a community type website where youll find a lot of "personal" expression/thoughts etc. for me, it also gives a little insight on a more personal lvl for members... kinda know them a little better lol.

[Ritchierich]

I say get rid of them. I love seeing the pics, but there are lots of places to get that. Ultimately this site if for hockey so keep it that way before the site is "Kovied".

I don't think changing avatars will stop anyone from coming to the best fantasy hockey site there is.

How about for you next contest you run make it - Who has the best hockey related Avatar

[kooter109]

I voted in the 'nothing' range. But whatever ends up happening doesn't make any difference to me.
Like a previous poster said...if you're worried about people looking over your shoulder at work, you probably aren't looking at here during work hours anyways.
BUT I am all for keeping up the integrity and quality of this site and if there are people who will not view the site, then getting rid of them won't hurt me!

[Old_Smokie]

I have returned to my original Old Smokie avatar. I respect the views of the people who like to view the site and the avatars at work. I do not like to turn the avatars off as I usually make the connection of the username with the pic so I'll just switch for the ease of things.

[PrairieDog]

I don't mind them personally but I can see how it could cause problems for others. I think you should ask members to tone it down. A picture can be racy as hell but still be tasteful and not show much. For example, dyzfunctioned's avatar is sexy as hell, but is nothing you wouldn't see walking down the street in an ad. There's a line, and some avatars probably do cross it.

[ericdaoust]

The only issue with the avatar disabling feature is that newer users might not know about this feature or might not know about the consequences of enabling avatars until they see the half-naked girl at an inappropriate time.

If certain accidents happen and dobberhockey gets banned in some workplaces, then yeah that affects business.

[littleranger]

I think avatars add a lot of colour to the posts and make it easier to identify who is who. I just think some of these pics are gettin to be a little much...I mean its bad when youre too embarressed to look at a site because youre in public...come on guys - separate your 2 favourite hobbies

[Shake]

I posted my thoughts in the other related topic. As much as I like looking at them, I think the avatars should be geared more in the hockey side of things. Thats what this site is. I think it waters down the experience and also sends a gimmicky symbol to newbies when they sign up. How many forums sites have this sorta way of the land if you will , hot girl on a profile avatar. Lots I would suspect. But here, it should be a higher standard, not gimmicky. Just sayin

[Chadosaur]

I voted to appeal to the members' sence of decency.

I will admit that I personally have nothing against things that are racy. However, I am mindful of (1) the business-related arguments against "racy" avatars, (2) the possible ages of persons who view this site, and (3) possible NSFW concerns.

In a perfect world, we would all be able to enjoy this marvellous repository of hockey pool goodness without any sort of boundaries or restrictions. However, the practical reality is that the wants of some (more cleavage) must take a back seat to the greater good. A little bit of toning it down would go a long way.

Ultimately, a person's avatar is a form of self-expression that other people using the forum can recognize and appreciate. It would be a shame to force users to disable avatars to achieve the desired effect as it would detract from the overall experience on the website. That said, if members cannot take it upon themselves to exercise proper discretion, then I would suggest that some restrictions on content of avatars would be acceptable to the majority, myself included.

Of course this would all be avoided if we could simply all agree to change our avatars to various versions on the theme of "Leafs Suck". That's not racy...just fact.

[JHM]

My son is on the site every day. I agree that he can encounter 'racy' in numerous other places on the internet. More racy than what we encounter on Dobber. However, using this as the measuring stick is not a healthy way to view things. "I'm not as bad as they are. Therefore it's all right." Sorry, I don't buy the theory.

I simply ask myself, can I tell my mother. (she plays the organ at the church). On this theory, I can resolve most any problem in life.

Step one. Ask people to remove the racy avatars. A a later point in time, you may feel in necessary to mandate stronger policy.

This website has allowed us the opportunity to enjoy ourselves immensely at no cost. That's a pretty amazing thing in itself. That the man that organizes this entertainment service for us, expresses concerns for himself (and he certainly can't ever be accused of being prudish), should hopefully be enough reason that we would comply. I for one, would like Dobber to have the opportunity to make an excellent living with this service and would like him to have every advantage possible.

I enjoy some of these racy avatars myself, and have made comment. If I need a fix, I'll be able to find it elsewhere.

[lanky522]

I voted for "Remove the racy avatars". Why? Because I think that avatars, if used correctly, add a lot to the site (they identify the author quickly, and add interest because of the cool hockey-related ones, plus lots of other reasons as well).

I personally think that these "racy" avatars are used just as any other avatar is used on this site. I personally can immediately identify many of these posters by their avatars (joos, shao, etc. come to mind). In this way, their avatars serve the exact purpose that they are there for: to identify the poster.

That being said, there would be other options I'd be happy with, e.g.:
* Flag certain avatars as "racy", and have a user option to disable only the racy avatars (enabled by default for safety of kids).
OR
* Place "racy" avatars in a different location on the server that be can be filtered out with Ad-blocking software.
Both these options would require coding effort, so the "Removal" is probably still the best option from my point of view.

You know... when i saw this thread by dobber... these are the exact things that I was thinking. Why not "tag" certain avatars as "racy" or "NSFW" and then allow an option to block these particular ones?

I mean sure, it requires more work on the part of the admins of the site, but more administrative work is to be expected I think as a site expands and reaches larger audiences.

Sites like deviantart.com... photoshack.com... etc. all have "NSFW" filters that prevent people from accidentally stumbling into unsafe/inappropriate images (in their current context). Deviantart is a great example i think, as users who aren't logged in are shown a generic icon for any piece of art deemed "NSFW." IF there could be a filter installed here in the forums for not only "blocking all avatars," but also "blocking racy avatars," I think that'd go a long way to solving the problem.

...

All that said. Some of the avatars/images on this site that make me personally feel the most awkward about viewing it in public aren't the girl avatars. They're images like the one Dobber had on the main page of Raffi Torres, or the current avatar of Dean Youngblood (love ya dean, but that picture freaks me out).

I mean... what's to say what's socially acceptable? To some, half nude women are normal, and guys hugging each other isn't. To others, half nude women are utterly offensive and inappropriate, and guys without their shirts on (flexing muscles or whatever) is ok.

I think that once you start censoring one type of image deemed inappropriate, you'll end up having to censor more and more and more (because "inappropriate" is different to different people).

I generally think that if people are offended by any type of image or avatar on this site that the button to turn them off is a more than reasonable solution.

P.S. I'm not sure where these people work, but I'd be slayed if I were caught on a forum of any type (pictures of half nude women or not) at work.

While I'm sure dobber loves getting the page hits during the work day, perhaps some of you should be considering not spending time goofing around on the internet while you're on the clock, rather than figuring out a way to get rid of the girl avatars.

Just my 2 cents.

[Dicks]

I too was unaware of the option to disable avatars and I agree that it ought to be highlighted prominently somewhere on the site - perhaps when one registers their account in the forum or through periodic postings in the ramblings.

I will say, however, that the matter as it relates to "businessmen" should not be one of great concern. Many employers would find the simple fact that their staff are reading fantasy hockey news during business objectionable. The matter of avatars would be an afterthought.

[repenttokyo]

i don't see a need for avatars at all.

[Dicks]

I should add that it might be worthwhile to post a poll asking visitors if they read the site at work.

[vangregs]

I think the option to disable them should be just fine. People who surf while at work usually do this with plenty of other sites so giving them the option to do it here should solve the issue and allow you to continue running a profitable business.

I understand if they are banned but I think giving options able/disable is a more democratic way to do things on a site as great as this one.

Keep up the good work!!

Greg