# Why does no one use a real picture in their profile?



## DiBaca

I've always wondered why do people use random pictures as their profile, instead of showing a picture pf themselves. Sometimes I would like to feel like I'm actually been helped by someone who is real and not a cup of coffee or a flower field. 

Just wanted to vent that out. 

Thank you.


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## Peterdg

Because of anonimity and privacy. We don't use our real names either.

If you post a picture, in which you are recognizable, of yourself in your profile, one doesn't need rocket science to find personal information about you using facial recognition technology.


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## DonnyB

I reckon it's also to do with whether you're photogenic or not.  I have a photo of me when I was a nine year-old boy as mine, but I wouldn't want to use a photo of what I look like now!


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## DiBaca

Peterdg said:


> Because of anonimity and privacy. We don't use our real names either.
> 
> If you post a picture, in which you are recognizable, of yourself in your profile, one doesn't need rocket science to find personal information about you using facial recognition technology.


And why are you so afraid of that? what are you hiding?


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## Pedro y La Torre

People may want to express views here (within the rules, obviously) that they wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable expressing in real life (social, political, religious etc.). For that reason, and many others, anonymity is important.


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## Fernando

DiBaca said:


> And why are you so afraid of that? what are you hiding?


I am simply too handsome and intelligent. Every time I post my real picture, I have problems with sexual harassment and people come to know that their common mate or friend is the Mozartesque genius who hides under the apparently innocent pseudonym of 'Fernando'. Understand that I could not follow with my normal life. If you know Peter Parker you know what I mean.

Since you wear sunglasses in your profile picture, I understand you feel the same as me. By the way, I notice you do not have your address, telephone number, skin tone, criminal record, preferred sexual position, ID and annual income in your profile, which could be most useful to know I am not talking a picture you have just taken from Wiki Commons.

Confess. What are you hiding?


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## Welsh_Sion

By the way, I notice you do not have your address, telephone number, skin tone, criminal record, preferred sexual position, ID and annual income in your profile, which could be most useful to know I am not talking a picture you have just taken from Wiki Commons.

_________

You forgot to add that DiBaca had not included his PIN number. I'm sure in the interests of greater democracy here on WR that he will happily share that with us and we could all let our hair down and party on at his expense. Unless of course he has something to hide ... like a secret Swiss bank account that he doesn't want his wife, girlfriend, partner etc to know about ...


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## MedievalElf

Privacy is easily given away and impossible to retrieve, caution is the watchword


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## Welsh_Sion

MedievalElf said:


> Privacy is easily given away and impossible to retrieve, caution is the watchword



That should be the motto engraved on every entry portal to the internet and IP. You have said in one clear sentence what Zuckerberg, Google, Amazon, Cambridge Analytica et al. have been trying to undermine for years.


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## MedievalElf

For the record, I am very photogenic. I look exactly like Brad Pitt. It is uncanny...


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## Welsh_Sion

MedievalElf said:


> For the record, I am very photogenic. I look exactly like Brad Pitt. It is uncanny...


And I look like Pitt, too. A cess pitt.


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## ewie

Fernando said:


> you wear sunglasses in your profile picture


I can't understand why people post pictures of themselves wearing sunglasses ~ it's like looking at a face with two black holes in it.  _The eyes are the mirror of the soul_ ... or something like that.


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## Awwal12

Well, personally I have little to hide and not much to lose either, and I'm accustomed to taking responsibility for my words. But I can understand people's desire to stay completely anonymous - that way some of them may talk more freely.


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## pollohispanizado

Awwal12 said:


> But I can understand people's desire to stay completely anonymous - that way some of them may talk more freely


The funny thing is, even though my name is obviously not pollohispanizado (maybe not so obvious...), I still don't feel entirely anonymous here; which is to say, when we see the same screen names over and over, we create an image in our heads, and to me that still feels like a legitimate side of me and, therefore, I can feel anxious about how I am perceived, as I would in real life. The only thing that assuages that is knowing that I am still technically anonymous (however I wouldn't say anything that I wouldn't say to somebody's face).


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## Rocko!

DiBaca said:


> Sometimes I would like to feel like I'm actually been helped by someone who is...


In case you are worried about knowing the identity of the person who is teaching you, because you prefer to be taught by a person of a certain age, social background, culture or ethnicity, then you need to go to another website or internet forum; here people do not have that imposition, regardless of whether or not it is discrimination.
But in case you are not concerned about any of these personal details, there is no valid reason to question the lack of a profile picture.
Personally, I am not interested in knowing anyone's face, what I really enjoy on this website is discovering good questions and good answers.


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## rotan

Awwal12 said:


> I have little to hide


"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say."


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## bandini

Because this isn't real life, at least for those who can still tell the difference... and nobody wants their personal information sold on the dark web and tons of telemarketers calling at all hours and junk email filling up their inbox.


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## Penyafort

Why do people feel so proud when they say "I've got nothing to hide"? I've always found people with something to hide much more interesting, to be honest.


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## Roxxxannne

How do you know that the photos people use of ordinary people are really of themselves?


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