Why not?

[Veritasiness]

Non-serious: I don't show up in photographs.

Serious: I am both paranoid and not confident in my appearance. I am not particularly attractive and prefer my words to be taken for their own value, not for the value of the image next to them.

 

[ultrachicken]

I don't like being photographed, so all pictures of me involve a fake or reluctant smile.

 

[RatRace123]

I can never take a good picture, ever.
It's always a bad angle, or I've got a stupid grin, or something else.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Because I prefer to have a silly name and avatar that don't really make a lot of sense in combination.

Besides, I've posted my picture on this site plenty of times and I've seen plenty more "What do the Escapist users" really look like threads. I would suggest using the search bar next time.

 

[adam5396]

My own face is boring, why show people it when they can look at that guy from S.T.A.L.K.E.R instead?

 

[The Madman]

I think I look pretty good, so it's not out of shyness I don't put pictures of myself on teh internets. It's because I don't trust the Internet and I don't like the idea of a picture of me being out there. I try to remain as anonymous as possible online for precisely that reason: Google my name (If you knew it!) and you'll find nothing. I don't have either a twitter or a facebook, nor do I want either!

I'm a fan of the good ol' belief that if you want to meet new people you should genuinely meet them face to face. That my personal life should remain just that; personal. And I've no interest in sharing my personal feelings with anonymous strangers out of a misplaced need to 'share'. I think it's just silly.

But by all means, if you ever come to Calgary Canada and want to meet up it's fine with me. The Internet just feels so... detached.

 

[Tartarga]

I don't like having my picture taken and for that reason very few pictures of me that aren't baby pictures exist. So i'm certainly not going to take one just to put on the internet.

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

It just doesn't make a good profile picture. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any reservations towards putting my pictures online, so long as they don't give away any personal information, I just like Kino better as my avatar.

 

[zfactor]

Because a weighted companion cube is more loveable than me.

 

[Koeryn]

There are pictures of me on the internet if you look, but for the most part I try to avoid attaching a face to my name. I'm harder to find that way, and I'm nothing if not paranoid.

 

[Death God]

Mostly because I don't take picture of my self nor do I keep any on my laptop. And even if I did, I don't really like my pictures taken.

 

[Lord Legion]

Because I have absolutely no clue where a camera is, how to transfer photos onto my computer, am not willing to buy a webcam, or make a Photobucket account for an image no one's probably going to see.

Being technologically lazy saves me time.

Literally word for word...

Besides that, having a picture of a being of pure energy has a sort of 'transcending' quality doesn't it? I would think our picture choice can say as much about ourselves as a real life photo
- maybe even more...

 

[Angus565]

Cause I'm secretly a duck in a robot suit built by the government to infiltrate websites across the internet to get the mind control nano-bots into society... Oops.
I mean, look! A kitty!

Now just ignore crazy conspiracy theories involving mind-control nanobots because they are crazy. Now just eat your oatmeal and if you start to here clicking noises in your brain just take a nice, long nap. Humans like naps right? I mean-We humans like naps right? _>

 

[neoontime]

Why do you want to look at me, are you a stalker or something?

 

[Marik2]

Unless I trust the site, I won't post any personal pictures. And also because I think I'm fuck ugly >>

But, I posted a picture of myself a while back, so that means I trust the lot of you at least enough for you to see me ^-^

No your not ugly.

From what I saw in the behind the avatar thread a lot of people who said that just had low self esteem.

They all looked like wonderful people that I wouldnt mind meeting one day.

 

[high_castle]

I've been stalked before. As such, I tend to be guarded when it comes to personal details like pictures.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I have no camera readily available for picture taking. No camera = no photo of me. Also, rule 34. I would rather not have my picture involved in that...

 

[Nouw]

Because I want an avatar that is eye-catching, amusing and says something about me.

I save my face for facebook.

 

[Dirzzit]

Why look at myself when I can look at this sexy beast.

<----------- =D

 

[KeyMaster45]

I'm not the same person I am out in the real world when I post online. Yes my ideals and opinions remain the same but I express them much more freely in a forum setting. It's a base idea of sociology, we have different persona to fit different environments, situations, and interactions with different people. For instance do you use the same vocabulary and tone of voice when speaking with your parents than when you are around your friends; how bout when on a job interview or ordering food at a restaurant?

Of course everyone is different and if you're comfortable with presenting the same persona across a large array of situations then more power to you, a wealth of confidence is not a bad thing.

As for why I don't post a picture of my self as my avatar? Well that kinda goes back to what I just got done explaining. I feel that I act differently enough when participating in a forum environment that I want to use an avatar fits me in some way, of course the one I use here I use simply because I thought the geico stack of money with googly eyes was freaking awesome. Over time though I like to think that image is how people identify me on the forums. When it comes to the Escapist forums that's the persona I choose to wear and be known by; it's never been a matter of anonymity for me its merely the persona I've taken on.