You can already embed an image in your profile if you want to have a picture. I don't really like the idea of asking people to add an image if they don't have one or don't want to disclose one. Empty avatars are bad because it makes people automatically assume the user is new, even if they simply don't want to be defined in an image. The hover over/pop up thing is worth thinking about. We used to have profile pages set up as a pop up but it became hard to link to profiles, etc because those pages wouldn't have css. What could be worthwhile is having a hover-over (that you can turn on and off in your settings) with quick information with a 2 or 3 second delay. It could include information like: x# of days on site, # of followers, # of badges, recently posted #, etc. Maybe even a quick form that users could fill in that has a short sentence. Something like that. The hard part is how users judge one another. my full comment on the subject So to get a comprehensive look at a user we see: (I started typing stuff here but fuck that. i'm a designer) What do you think, all?2. Let users set a profile image.
Hubski allows you to judge a user based on a myriad of different points. I can immediately tell whether or not I follow someone or they follow me. I have a short description that gives me more information. Even leaving this blank gives me some information about the user. I can tell how many tags or people they follow. I can see the number of people that follow them. I can see how many badges they have given and received. All these points come together to create a comprehensive look at each Hubski user. It also takes away the ultra importance of any given number. Is someone who has a few followers but a lot of badges better than someone with a lot of followers but no badges?
