If nothing else, this thread has real entertainment value.
Feeling that I was in the minority, I didn't post any negative comments on the issue. But I'm not sure I like it either, not even for new members. Sometimes new people are shy, just want to slowly fit their own way in. We can always see that someone is new by clicking on their profile to see when they joined. Some new folks might not want to see "NEW MEMBER!' posted beside their name.
And we already have a lot of stuff listed by our names: date and time, name, location, badges. Do we need more stuff? clutter?
Karen