Oddbean

> You would have to locally cache the pic and then never clear the cache I’m thinking something like this: 1. Receive and store (cache) all profile update events. 2. Allow user to “pin” a particular pic image, but continue to receive and store updated profile events. That is, in client-side storage, map the npub to the note id with the pinned profile pic. 3. When a follow’s profile updates, show “<name> has a new profile pic” as a notification like any other. The notification UI can have a pin/unpin button or something to allow the user to decide whether to accept the new pic as the pinned one. 4. When viewing an npub’s profile, show the gallery of previous profile pics. Allow client to pic one to pin. Or “unpin” to always use the latest profile pic. Notably, Telegram shows users’ prior profile pics. I don’t think it gives users the ability to pin other users’ pics (for their own viewing), but it does preserve the history of pics you can look through.

Okay, that doesn't sound at all creepy. 😅 https://media.tenor.com/o_RMXS4j2gYAAAAC/kto-kounotoritoken.gif At any rate, anything in-app is siloed data and will trap people into a client, but it allows you to write all sorts of nasty stuff you don't want anyone else knowing about, so I see the upside. If you're doing it client-side, why bother even using the pics from the profiles? You could change my profile pic to anything.

> why bother even using the pics from the profiles? You could change my profile pic to anything. If you’ll pardon the philosophical diversion, the value of a profile pic at all, IMO, is recognizability at a glance. There are plenty of ways to share one-off content images. The point of a profile pic, specifically, is so the viewer can identify the content creator quickly. To this end, using the pic that the creator has chosen makes sense in nearly all cases. The creator has indicated “this is how you can quickly identify me”. When a profile pic changes, especially frequently, it breaks the very point of having one. It’s a new, unrecognized image in a scenario where recognizability is the primary function. I accept that the above is my opinion. I accept that others have their own opinions about the purpose and value of profile pics. What I’m looking for is a solution that preserves the utility of profile-pic-as-recognizable-avatar in the face of these differences of opinion.