Have you ever considered maybe that's the point? Maybe people want to be judged for what they say instead of what image they had on hand when they signed up?
I uploaded a pic while playing with all the shiny features over here, but I was faceless on reddit for years after their introduction of profile pics, because I was there to have discussions, not build a profile. And the one I picked here? It tells you almost nothing about me unless you already know the character in the image, which only people who have a similar niche interest might.
This is like whining about women who don't wear makeup, because "If you have the option why not just snazzy it up with a couple of images tiny bit of eyeshadow. I think it’s shows a bit of personality." Sometimes the active decision not to bother with cosmetic features IS the personality you're looking for.
I think it should be at least somewhat personal, so a bit more difficult to have something interesting I suppose. Especially with restrictions, at least on Kbin I think with the avatar it's 500x500 (but usually downscaled to 100x100) and for profile background it's 1500x500 (and then that gets zoomed in a tiny bit for whatever reason).
Also relevant to the linked SVG, I'd be more inclined to create something better if live-rendered SVGs were possible here (but you can't upload them and even the linked one doesn't get a thumbnail). For instance my avatar was made in inkscape (though I'm not good at using it and I'd prefer a polygon workflow, like this animated eye that I made using Godot).
I use connect for Lemmy so I don’t see profile pictures. I didn’t even know it was a thing.
On reddit I used RIF and old.reddit and I had all subreddit personalisation turned off. So no personal snoo or profile page there either or whatever people did.
On the other hand, it’s useful to see anime/cryptobro/laser eye pfps since those tend to stereotypically tell you everything you need to know about that person.
I honestly can't tell if most people (in this thread even) don't have profile pics or if I can't see them because kbin.social has some weird federation issues (like with votes).
But I also learned recently you can use a gif as a profile pic. I like my animated pic and it brings a little nostalgia bomb every time I see it.
I don’t feel that much for a site like this, but it sure bugs the fuck outta me when some dude on Grindr asks me for pics when they don’t even have a profile pic. I have pics in mine already. If that’s not enough, show me yours first.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s mildly infuriating, but it does sadden me how few people take advantage of the bio section to tell everyone about themselves. But I am doubtful there are many others who even look at other people’s profile other than to maybe scan their comments for a history of fuckery. I’m here for the users; most users are here for the content.
Edit: Oh, and as for standing out… Well. I’m sure you can figure out my thoughts on that.
For me it’s people who have a profile pic of their kids on a messaging platform. The point of the pic is to make it easy to tell people apart in my conversation list and I’m not talking to their toddler, I’m talking to them.
Some of those apps let you set your own for people. I like that method. It would be cool for a social media site, too. Every clown you encounter gets the clown avatar! 🤡
That was one of the things I miss most about Boost. The ability to tag users was so nice both as a way to keep track of and remember nice facts about users I routinely interacted with in private subs, and to stop myself from bothering to argue with someone I've previously titled "depressing incel" or "autism vaccines."
Made reading what they said easier to bear, even, with the constant reminder that it's being typed by someone who drinks piss or whatever
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