Those are the metros posing as real men, IMHO. I trim mine to 1/2 inch, which looks full and is neat and trim. I also shave the cheeks, leaving a one inch beard along my chin line. I’ve seena lot of actors sport that kind of beard.
Of course, some men look bad with a full beard (Brad Pitt and Mel Gibson, I’m looking at you). Brad would look very good with the 1/2 inch because it would fill out his thin face.
I actually get nightmares about losing my beard. I have that nightmare at least 4 times per year. In my dream someone shaves off my beard or I accidentally shave it off. And then when I wake up, the first thing I do is grab my beard to make sure it is still there.