Before we continue, I'll share a charming image of me from a while back, just to let everyone know that I condone this practice and I'm not being negatively critical about it all 

[s](Once I get an actual picture working)[/s] [color=fff200]Working![/color]
[hider=My ugly mug]
[url]http://postimg.org/image/sgok2j84f/[/url]
[/hider]


So I've been looking through this thread, and I find it really fascinating. I've done this before on other sites, and I feel that it's worthy of some analysis. 

This photo sharing habit is an act of social interaction. Most people don't use actual photos of themselves as avatar's, because an avatar is meant to be an idea or belief that you want to put out and let others people know about. I take my avatars chiefly from my favorite webcomic, because I appreciate the visual aesthetic and I want people to know that I like that webcomic. (it's Gunnerkrigg court, BTW) Other people will have different avatars reflecting what they like.


I'll use one delightful Guild member here as another example. (which he hopefully won't ban me for) [@HeySeuss] has a delightfully animated gif of Lord Vader dancing around, which I have watched for five minutes straight once. And that's the sort of idea's and interests he wants to project to the world. (or at least the Guild) That:
A) He likes Star Wars. 
B) Has a sense of humor that is derived from unexpected responses. Someone who likes Star Wars is likely to have an avatar picture with a character from the series, and Darth Vader is an easily recognizable one and is certainly memorable. But since Heyseuss finds humor in the alteration of norms, his avatar is the sinister Darth Vader doing a funky dance, which is something that Vader is unlikely to do. (Unless George Lucas makes another remastered version, in which case Obi-Wan will be killed through a song and dance number)
So we've learned from a single glance about some things that Heyseuss is willing to share externally: his appreciation of cinematic space opera's, and cheeky gifs subverting them.


But when people start forming genuine social bonds with people, which can definitely occur online, as everyone here can hopefully attest to, evolutionary social traits require us to have a physical connection to someone else. For IRL friends and couples, this means increased physical contact, handshakes/hugs/[s]humping.[/s] But online, with people separated from so far away, and with people communicating primarily through text, we still want that physical connection to people. So image sharing crops up, it's a way to legitimize and further social relationships online through a restricted medium. (You can't hug a person online... YET) But you can show someone a picture of what you really look like, which provides at least some of the evolutionary social needs. 

You're not picturing a pigeon in a party hat pecking this out with it's beak, you're imagining a mental image of what you think I look like. [s](or what I do look like, once the image link is functioning)[/s] [color=fff200](fixed!)[/color]Because it's impossible to form an actual relationship with a party hat pigeon, or a delightfully dancing Darth, because those aren't real people faces, or your real person face. (If someone has an old James Bond avatar, I know I'm not chatting with Sean Connery, just someone who likes Scottish actors who kick-ass)

I'm not totally sure where I was going with this, cause it's around 3.30 in the morning, but if you understand what I'm trying to say, I would love it if you would chip in. Because I think this is really interesting psychological speaking.