Started seeing this every now and then on v251. Previously I don't recall seeing this. It only occurs when a profile picture has issues loading and typically is temporary; the error is removesd once the link resolves. Before it's resolved, it can be a hindrance.
I support apps being more verbose and error messages but in this particular case, I don't think the error message is necessary; if the a profile picture link doesn't resolve, so be it. Maybe on an user profile page, it may be more of a consideration.
Thanks for the report, you're right in this scenario it shouldn't be trying to display an error message. Will be fixed in the next release (tonight). Cheers!
It's still happening in v254?