[Coda]

It's silly, yes, but people like being able to shorten their sentences. Having to write "Matt the Merciless created the avatar that belongs to Matt the Merciless, which is below Matt the Merciless's name, to the left of Matt the Merciless's post." instead of "He made his avatar, which is below his name, to the left of his post." is quite tedious. And to do that, one must guess. Or one must write in an awkward style that avoids the issue. Or one can use "they" instead, but then one must deal with the criticism of those who would fight for the "purity" of the English language.