I must say that I'm surprised at the heavy resistance to adding profile photos or avatars.

While FlyerTalk is a (glorified) Bulletin Board with the focus on it's content (miles & points) I do agree that it has become a bit stale on the visual & feature front. I think an image can help improve the user experience.

Sure Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc. are social sites, but FlyerTalk can only thrive if it takes some cues from them in terms of features such as profile photos, avatars and yes, more smilies, poke icons, etc.

I know a lot of you (sans lucky9876coins) fall into the 30+ crowd, as do I, but thinking about the future and keeping FlyerTalk competitive outweighs the argument that some might not understand how these features work or their implications. As alanw has pointed out these features are optional, minimal on load-times and should be treated as "content" like anything else subject to Moderation and the TOS. Let's have options!

To be clear, I'm not advocating crazy MySpace style clutter or page (skin) modifications, but a few simple elements to improve the user experience: We're taking about a 3 cm x 3 cm space for a photo or image underneath the post count, plus a flag icon possibly under the member status. Again, restrictions such as the image being static (no flashing or animating) will keep things from getting to wild. If folks really object, then I'd say add the photo to the pull down list once you click on the member name.

(if you really want me to stir the pot, ask about my ideas for friend lists, feedback and testimonials in our profiles)