Hey, everyone - it’s a rainy, unsettled day here in Brisbane, Qld, Australia, after a heatwave that started before Christmas. No local test cricket to watch, since the Australians finished their match in Melbourne with a modest win over Pakistan in 4 days yesterday. So today means more lingering here on pixls.us, which brings me - in a rambling way - to my point:
I would find it interesting/engaging/informative if more users here had a little bit more in their profile. I totally understand the wish for privacy of information, and I am not suggesting any pressure on anyone. Nor should the level of detail that some choose to share be seen as normative for anyone else.
Some musings of mine:
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Username - I chose to register with my real name. That may not have been the wisest choice, as there is only one other person on the planet with the same name to the best of my knowledge. I do really appreciate those uses who have a handle but also provide at least a given name - it is helpfully polite to address someone by name. The most significant anti-social behaviour that I have witnessed here has been from behind the mask of a handle, although I know there have been some exceptions to this. I cast no aspersions against handle-users, so many of which are cornerstones of pixls.us (however see below, also).
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Location - I chose to be moderately specific in my profile as to my location. However Brisbane is often conflated with South-East Queensland, so I am in area of 1.2 million residents in a generally built-up region of 3.8 million. I am comfortable with the level of privacy I have chosen. Not every one will wish to be so specific. Yet many users here have no location information in their profile whatsoever. For those who make a conscious choice to leave it blank, I totally respect that. Some users are happy to reveal in a post here where they live, which leads me to wonder whether they just have not got around to any profile setup.
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About me, link, pic/avatar - there is absolutely no need for “about me”, or a website link, or a profile picture (or avatar, if you prefer). My choices are again personal, although my “about me” is dated, my linked piwigo gallery has been hardly used for many months, and my profile pic says more about my mood and emotional state at the time it was taken than about what I am usually like. I really appreciate users who share something, if they so chose.
Why?
Not everyone comes to pixls.us for the same reasons, however we have often talked about this as a community. I certainly owe a great deal of gratitude to this community, and many, many individual users within it. The sort of sharing I am suggesting can be helpful precisely because it helps to build community.
I have stated before that I always try to communicate here in a manner that would never have any negative impact upon my relationships with my family, friends, fellow-pixls.us users, or employers: past, present or future. That is a self-discipline that is also imposed by posting in a public forum as an identifiable person. However the forum guidelines really require that of everyone here, handle or real name.
What now?
There is a classic question in Lutheran theology: What does this mean for us?
In this case, there is no specific answer.
This is merely a collection of rambling thoughts (ok, I called them ‘musings’ above).
As we very soon enter 2024, let me conclude this ramble with:
- I highly value the community here at pixls.us
- Thank you to the administrators/moderators for excellent work
- I hope we all continue to find mutual interest and encouragement, especially in our pixel endeavours.
And a Happy New Year (if a little early)
Not that the whole world will, but the FB algos will… 
