Slashdot.org was created in 1997 by Rob “CmdrTaco” Malda. The people at Slashdot.org do not necessarily act as avatars, but they are not themselves either. From what I can tell so far, most participants are computer geek's (like me), with varying degrees of interest at stake. Their stakes usually lie within the technology backgrounds from which they come. For example there are a lot of IT Administrators who read and participate in Slashdot.org in order to stay informed and educated about their field. There are also the people I like to call Weird Scientist (some might prefer armature scientist) who read Slashdot.org for articles about scientific borders and transition points. They also will theorize and discuss projects within threads which make for good debates and sometimes nasty comments. I am sure as I get more inundated with Slashdot.org I will find more personalities and clicks.