I would probably say it depends on which section I am in. In the Advanced section, I would expect the other players to not only read the entire description of my character, but also reference it in the IC itself. If I'm posting in casual-- and perhaps this is overly cynical of me-- I count myself lucky if they read the whole thing... much less reference it in the roleplay itself/EVER. All in all, I would much rather just use a picture instead of put a bunch of effort into a description that nobody else except me seems to care about. 

Personally, I do prefer more detailed descriptions and I whole-heartedly wish that was the trend, but it's not. It's frustrating to have a crystal clear picture of one character while all the others are the equivalent of old-school runescape graphics. 

If I like an RP enough I tend to draw the characters-- and the only characters I spontaneously tend to draw are the ones I can picture. (Especially since I have, in the past, drawn "fuzzy descriptionless runscape blobs just to be treated with a "that's not how they look" instead of thanks) 

I don't think numbers like 5'7" and 150lbs have any place in IC, but when listed in the character sheet, it doesn't detract from the story at all and only adds to everyone being able to collectively be on the same page.