I've been using this avatar (may be NSFW) at a different forum for years without a problem until today when a moderator on that site sent me a message that he had received complaints about the avatar and its resemblance to something other than a heart. Is this really over the top, and can I use it here?
-
7Yes, on first view it appears to be NSFW. Doesn't matter if it really isn't.– Shadow WizardCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:25
-
6"resemblance"?.......– CaiCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:27
-
4"The forum/website is about deals and discounts" Are you asking about a moderator decision on another (as in not Stack Exchange) site?– CaiCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:28
-
@Cai No, just asking opinion. No decision has been made.– Xander TranseauCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:34
-
2Then what is this deals and discounts website and what does it have to do with Stack Exchange? (Meta—where we are now—is only for questions relating to the SE network of sites, not general discussion/opinion)– CaiCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:36
-
1i.e. if your asking if that avatar is appropriate for Stack Exchange, that is probably ok, but if you're asking for a general opinion (including its use elsewhere) that isn't really on-topic here.– CaiCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:38
-
12It is, literally, a bare butt with tan lines surrounded by bubbles that form a heart shape. I don't think there's a "resemblance" there.– CatijaCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:42
-
@cai I don't understand your replies. They seem to appear as bunch of replies when they could have been just one. Also, when I ask for opinion here in SE, the question has to be related to SE? I can't perhaps ask question about how good is iPhone 7 ?– Xander TranseauCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:46
-
2I don't believe that Stack Exchange has a site about deals and discounts. If you're talking about a non-SE site, I don't see how it has any bearing on the argument here. We don't set our standards based on what other sites allow.– CatijaCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:46
-
1We don't allow opinion questions on SE sites generally. So a question asking "how good the iPhone 7 is" would certainly be closed, even on the site it applies to, Ask Different. No, you can't come to Meta Stack Exchange to ask questions about the web in general. We don't control the wider web, we only control Stack Exchange.– CatijaCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:50
-
3Apologies if I was unclear but yes, as I said, "Meta—where we are now—is only for questions relating to the SE network of sites, not general discussion/opinion" See What is Meta.– CaiCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:53
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
To get an idea of what we expect, users who use Gravatar for their avatars can only use images rated G or PG. We don't allow adult-only avatars.
The way I'm seeing it, this avatar is NSFW and sexually explicit to the point where it is only appropriate for 17+ audiences. I would not consider it appropriate for a site with participation from 13+ teenagers and an audience that includes young children.
-
-
The Gravatar standard is intended to represent what content is considered appropriate as avatars. It would logically follow that it extends to avatars hosted on stack.imgur.com.– bwDracoCommented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:40
-
Got it. Thanks for your short yet comprehensive reply. Commented Dec 5, 2016 at 23:50
What exactly is considered "offensive" is a very cultural and personal matter. As a particularly liberally-minded Dutch person you need to try pretty damn hard to "offend" me by anything other hurling personal insults.
But what you or I think isn't really that important.
I've given the matter some thought as of late after a kerfuffle over what I thought was just a little joke in this answer (see the edit history). It wasn't even my joke, I lifted it from Planescape Torment.
Now, I personally still don't agree that it is particularly "offensive" or "vulgar", and I still think the reactions were overblown. But at the same time I could have expected that at least some people would have this opinion, and including this particular joke was probably not the best judgement in hindsight. It wasn't important at all for the gist of my answer and it was just a useless distraction.
In the same vein, I don't think your avatar is offensive at all. I never understood the whole hysteria about sex thing (it's like a dependency for the survival of the species), but perhaps that's just me.
However, hat doesn't really matter. We're not here to discus the finer points of what is and isn't offensive or vulgar. We're here to build a quality Q&A site with useful high-quality content. One of the great virtues of the Stack Exchange network is the absence of distractions and drama.
As a rule of thumb: if you think a reasonable number of people might find something offensive – whether you consider this reasonable or not – then using it probably isn't a great idea. It will just be a useless distraction and will contribute nothing.
answered Dec 6, 2016 at 1:39
-
4In other words, "if you have to ask if something is offensive", it likely is. :-)– RamhoundCommented Dec 6, 2016 at 1:51
-
@Ramhound I wouldn't word it like that because it sort of implies some objective standard of offensive – but it does describe the basic gist of my answer, yes. Commented Dec 6, 2016 at 2:01