Help-QA feature poll: Changing Anonicons
Current Anonicon functionality:
* Upon signing up, you are assigned a specific anonicon. This anonicon stays with you forever.
* Any time you post or reply anonymously, your avatar is displayed using the same icon for identification purposes. (So that if there are multiple anonymous users, we can tell who is who in a conversation.)
How should Anonicons be handled in the future?
You must be logged in to vote:
Monthly
Your anonicon will change at the beginning of each month. This might seem weird if youโre having a discussion at the end of the month with an anonymous user and all of a sudden their icon would change.
Per post
The Anonicon would be unique per user per post, and would change if you move to a new post.
Manually in Settings
Have a place to preview your anonicon in the settings and โchangeโ it by generating a new one.
This would also change all of your existing icons to match, if youโve had previous anonymous posts/replies.
Or "every so often", or "manually in user settings".
But can't edit polls. :P
Help me with: [quote]Test.
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โEvery so oftenโ would need to be defined. ๐ Manually changing is another interesting idea.
However, if itโs manually changed it would be the equivalent of changing your username/avatar- any previous posts would also be updated and show your new anonicon.
(Donโt tell Yeti that I edited the poll...)
Help-QA feature poll: Changing Anoniconsยฌ
ยฌ
Current Anonicon functionality:ยฌ
* Upon signing up, you are assigned a specific anonicon. This anonicon stays with you forever. ยฌ
* Any time you post or reply anonymously, your avatar is displayed using the same icon for identification purposes. (So that if there are multiple anonymous users, we can tell who is who in a conversation.)ยฌ
ยฌ
*How should Anonicons be handled in the future?*ยฌ
[poll]]ยฌ
ยฌ
*Monthly*ยฌ
Your anonicon will change at the beginning of each month. This might seem weird if youโre having a discussion at the end of the month with an anonymous user and all of a sudden their icon would change. ยฌ
ยฌ
*Per post*ยฌ
The Anonicon would be unique per user per post, and would change if you move to a new post. ยฌ
ยฌ
*Manually in Settings*ยฌ
Have a place to preview your anonicon in the settings and โchangeโ it by generating a new one. ยฌ
This would also change all of your existing icons to match, if youโve had previous anonymous posts/replies.
Yeah, I was thinking manual refresh more for the sake of getting the pattern / colour combination of one's preference, than obfuscation. :)
It seemed that goal was achieved pretty naturally in general - ralphie would always complain about my monthly avatar + name changes and take me for a new person, for a while. Eventually got to the point that the change's randomness was actually his cue...
Would you deem it difficult to create a user setting of per post anon - unique?
Help me with: [quote]Test.
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Yอคอญอฅฬeti. wrote:
Yeah, I was thinking manual refresh more for the sake of getting the pattern / colour combination of one's preference, than obfuscation. :)
I quite like this idea, actually. It'd still be "random" but you could generate a bunch until you find one that you like.
It seems the concern many people have is that people "learn" their anonicon and then they aren't really anonymous anymore, and this only sort of solves that problem. It kind of still solves it because unless those users are keeping tabs on the other posts and go back to reference them to compare the anonicon, it wouldn't be an issue. (And that would be a lot of work for the prying user- there are much easier ways to figure out an anonymous user than that...)
Yอคอญอฅฬeti. wrote:
It seemed that goal was achieved pretty naturally in general - ralphie would always complain about my monthly avatar + name changes and take me for a new person, for a while. Eventually got to the point that the change's randomness was actually his cue...
๐
Yอคอญอฅฬeti. wrote:
Would you deem it difficult to create a user setting of per post anon - unique?
Can you elaborate on this? Not sure I'm understanding the question.
Is it difficult to make an anonicon unique per-post? I don't think so. It should be pretty easy, as the Anonicons are generated using a hash of characters. As long as the same hash is used, it spits out the same icon. So all we'd need to do is add the post id to that hash and boom- new unique hash per post per user.
Rockster160 wrote:
Can you elaborate on this? Not sure I'm understanding the question.
Is it difficult to make an anonicon unique per-post? I don't think so. It should be pretty easy, as the Anonicons are generated using a hash of characters. As long as the same hash is used, it spits on the same icon. So all we'd need to do is add the post id to that hash and boom- new unique hash per post per user.
I mean, to allow both simultaneously - say, by default it acts as now, unique per ip / user or whatnot. The user can change that to a setting of "per post anon", which adds post id to the anon input seed henceforth (no automatic retrospective alteration - posts made whilst on the unique setting will use the same ip only seed). Then they can change back, and new posts / replies won't use pid in seed.
But I'm kinda assuming on the whole structure, haven't really researched the anon generator code.
Help me with: [quote]Test.
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Yอคอญอฅฬeti. wrote:
Rockster160 wrote:
Can you elaborate on this? Not sure I'm understanding the question.
Is it difficult to make an anonicon unique per-post? I don't think so. It should be pretty easy, as the Anonicons are generated using a hash of characters. As long as the same hash is used, it spits on the same icon. So all we'd need to do is add the post id to that hash and boom- new unique hash per post per user.I mean, to allow both simultaneously - say, by default it acts as now, unique per ip / user or whatnot. The user can change that to a setting of "per post anon", which adds post id to the anon input seed henceforth (no automatic retrospective alteration - posts made whilst on the unique setting will use the same ip only seed). Then they can change back, and new posts / replies won't use pid in seed.
But I'm kinda assuming on the whole structure, haven't really researched the anon generator code.
I think the hardest part there is communicating that to the user. Many people would get confused there.
Sounds like most people like the way they are currently anyway. ๐
๐
Will probably call the closing of the poll at the beginning of next week to give the rest of the community time to see and vote. Feel free to invite anybody you think may be interested. ๐
PepperJ wrote:
BIG-AL-ONE wrote:
Troll power X 10,000
....You'll see.Agree.
Admin needs to be able to identify trolls and mean people and ban them.
Mods are still able to see, identify, and ban anonymous users just as effectively- this will have no effect on the ability mods have. It may make a few trolls think they have more power... Only to be shut down when they realize it doesn't actually get them anywhere when they receive warnings or bans. ๐
I think the individual should be responsible for their content and not be under the protection of anonymity. This means that one have to think more about what one post.
Within this setup there is already a sort of mystery as of who the individuals really are, and there is enough room for being anonymous already in that regards.
If one cannot own up to what one say or become scared of someone finding out, then maybe those things should not be posted online at all for all to see.
Does not mean it have to be that way. Its just my opinion on the matter.
Grim_Hardcastle wrote:
I think the individual should be responsible for their content and not be under the protection of anonymity. This means that one have to think more about what one post.Within this setup there is already a sort of mystery as of who the individuals really are, and there is enough room for being anonymous already in that regards.
If one cannot own up to what one say or become scared of someone finding out, then maybe those things should not be posted online at all for all to see.
Does not mean it have to be that way. Its just my opinion on the matter.
I can definitely see the direction youโre coming from, and can agree in some cases. But in a place like this, people can want to be anonymous to avoid their family โfinding outโ. Some may be confused sexually and not want to โcome outโ to people in โreal lifeโ. Even if they can hide behind a screen name, the anonymous posting gives people an extra layer of comfort, and thatโs the goal.
We should focus on making users comfortable, not necessarily have the focus on making it difficult to troll. Many people may post the things they need help with if not for the anonymity, so instead bottle the feelings and never move on.
Sometimes all somebody needs is to be able to get some things off of their chest, and they canโt do that if they donโt have an outlet to let it go for fear of being judged or ridiculed. Sometimes we need fresh eyes and a new perspective rather than somebody that may already know the story and try to tell us the same thing they always say.
I forgot about Yeti changing his name every couple of days way back when.. about drove me crazy. I think the only reason I figured him out was because he changed it but still had a different series of letters flashing for his avatar. He could have been anonymous forever just by changing his name I guess. Hmmm..
I didn't realize the anonicon is with you for life either. That HAS to change, it almost defeats the purpose of having it. Plus lots of times people accidentally forget to hit the "Post Anonymously?" box and out themselves. I've seen it happen quite a few times and it is embarrassing to say the least.
And I wholeheartedly agree with rockster that we need to worry more about making people comfortable than about trolls. We don't really have a troll problem here anyway unless you consider soco a troll.. ha ha ha. Couldn't help myself there Wendo.
I like the per post idea. The monthly thing is kind of random and I've already outed my own anonymous avatar on that other post where this whole discussion started, so we have to change it now...
Ummm the manual idea is pretty good too. Like yeti says if you're trying to make a fashion statement you can just keep generating different ones until you find something that floats your boat. And it gives people the option of changing it mid-post if they really want to or leaving it the same forever so that their friends will recognize them but no one else will. Yeah, vote for that everyone!
Help me with: I need help.
Great I'm the only person that voted for it.. pffft.
Help me with: I need help.
DocteurRalph wrote:
Great I'm the only person that voted for it.. pffft.
For what itโs worth, thatโs the one I want, too! But I had already voted. ๐
ther than the troll issue, which was addressed, I don't really care and prob won't vote.
I have only posted/replied anon a handful of times on the OH way back when. Once was to tell a suicide poster to get over it, basically. I know it was very mean and horrible of me, but DAFT PUCK discovered "me" and gave me a warning :)Additionally, I don't spend any time trying to decipher the anons. I don't have time for that and don't care too much about who it is that decides that they need to post anon for whatever reason. I will say that sometimes I give anon posts less consideration, though. Not in a mean way (except the one time mentioned already), but in a way that I breeze past them and move on to posts that aren't anon; or I reply briefly without giving a whole lot of thought to my replies....
Rockster160 wrote:
(Donโt tell Yeti that I edited the poll...)
Rockster160 wrote:
DocteurRalph wrote:
Great I'm the only person that voted for it.. pffft.For what itโs worth, thatโs the one I want, too! But I had already voted. ๐
I would sit back with a gloating smirk, but am using one of those kneeling chairs and gloating would not befit a yeti of good standing, nor eavesdropping.
Help me with: [quote]Test.
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Why not just use the same one for everyone .... then no problem in I'd and the mods and admins can still I'd the users.
Or even better... one annivon for the poster and the poster replies ... and another icon for non posters annon replies.
sophieshizuko wrote:
Or even better... one annivon for the poster and the poster replies ... and another icon for non posters annon replies.
That gets to be the same issue. If the OP is replying to multiple anonymous users, there is no way to identify them.
Rockster160 wrote:
sophieshizuko wrote:
Or even better... one annivon for the poster and the poster replies ... and another icon for non posters annon replies.That gets to be the same issue. If the OP is replying to multiple anonymous users, there is no way to identify them.
So what ... as long as users can see which replies are from the original poster.
sophieshizuko wrote:
Rockster160 wrote:
sophieshizuko wrote:
Or even better... one annivon for the poster and the poster replies ... and another icon for non posters annon replies.That gets to be the same issue. If the OP is replying to multiple anonymous users, there is no way to identify them.
So what ... as long as users can see which replies are from the original poster.
In that case we might as well leave it as is instead of making the functionality more confusing. ๐คทโโ๏ธ
It's a tie right now. ๐
We need to invite more people to break the tie. ๐ I could have HelpBot send a announcement invite to everybody, but I feel like it's a little late for that.
i now vote 2 as it is the near to the way I describe above ... the current way is to simple to id the users.
Thanks @sophieshizuko ๐
As it stands, the votes are
Monthly: 2
Per Post: 8
Stay same: 7
Customizable (late entry ๐): 1
Per post is the winner, and the change is live. Anonicons will now change depending on the post youโre on. ๐
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