Sometimes it's nice to put a face to a name. Sometimes though you don't even have a name.
Such is the case with the successful IPVM Undisclosed posting facility. Identities are withheld for various valid reasons, which is effective as far as it goes, but there is also a loss of credibility and accountability that detracts from the interaction.
The goal of this suggestion proposed to visually provide general classification data regarding anonymous posters with the goal of enhancing that interaction by providing some additional context based on historical data.
How would it work?
Said simply an avatar would be dynamically generated based upon voting data: agree, disagree, informative unhelpful and funny, as well as number of posts, and be placed as an visual identifier to the left of the post. Shown below (enlarged for detail), are some examples
1. 2.3.4.
- Baseline
- Informative (note glasses)
- Agree + long time member (smile and goatee)
- Disagreeable jerk(glasses, scowl)
This way you would know exactly what type of anonymous poster you are dealing with, which can be helpful.
For example, in the case of this post my avatar would tell you this was most likely an April Fools Day Post! (Posted April 1 23:59:00)