can i ask the same thing? I'm currently searching post here on how to change it but haven't found any, have your figured it out?
You need to reach the rank of Full Member before you can set an avatar.
Avatars
Full Member and up only.
It must be no more than 120px wide, 80px tall, and 100 KiB in size. It must be a PNG, GIF, or JPEG image. It must be safe for work.
This is unrelated to your friends getting demoted issue as this account doesn't have an avatar yet. If you look at the date in OP of this thread it backs up what I was saying about the change in 2013.