Request: Post count, reputation & awards shown only on profile.

[Hyroen]

While partly a theoretical discussion, what is their purpose beside our avatars?

Saves space in threads, reduces ego-boosting and allows us to focus more on the content of the post.

[UTAlan]

Even better, configurable option. Probably for the viewer (not seeing anyone else's crap rather than turning your own on/off).

[Hyroen]

What would the argument for them being showed beside a post be?

[theelkspeaks]

I like seeing them - I think it's kind of cool to have what you've accomplished visible.  I'd at least be in favor of any option that allows me to still see them on posts.

[antiaverage]

What would the argument for them being showed beside a post be?

It provides context of community involvement for that particular user. This colors a large part of the culture of the forums.

[Hyroen]

That's a good point.

This colors a large part of the culture of the forums.

Is this a good thing though?

[antiaverage]

Is this a good thing though?

It's subjective, personal, and probably differs case to case, so I can't give a clear yes or no. Community culture is /very/ important, but the hows and whys are complicated and probably not well understood by any individual.

[ZephyrPhantom]

Is this a good thing though?

It's subjective, personal, and probably differs case to case, so I can't give a clear yes or no. Community culture is /very/ important, but the hows and whys are complicated and probably not well understood by any individual.

Community establishes values, values may vary between individuals, some individuals prefer more expressive profiles, more expressive profiles promote people finding shared interests or getting an idea of who does what. I don't see the complexity here.

[CrockettRocket]

I understand your side of it Hyroen, and was agreeing with it until I remembered a conversation I had with Dm a long time ago. If a newbie comes and asks a question, and another newbie answers the question incorrectly while a veteran answers the question correctly, who is the original newbie to trust? These things do provide for bragging rights, sure, but they show how much trust you can put into a particular answer. Without these, we'd have to have multiple consistent answers to /every/ question asked to make sure we're getting a trustworthy answer. That's my thoughts on it anyway.

[Hyroen]

That's a good point CR. I do think however that for the most part, when a question is asked, at least 1 staff member (with a title) answers it, giving the response credibility. This is not to say that non-staff do not give accurate and helpful answers but that some, within this theoretical paradigm would offer more credence.

[UTAlan]

Would it be worth implementing an option to set that section as "hidden", with the default for all users being "visible"?

[Hyroen]

From a Social Psychology perspective I would think so. The structure of a society can be very impacted by who everyone appears to be. Looking at the community perhaps a little too analytically, I'm looking to see if certain factors which can be manipulated would have an effect on how welcoming the community is as a whole, how egalitarian it is and how integrative it is. I also understand that somethings are hard to change, but this comes with an awareness that if there are supporting structures, they are even harder to.