Even then, picture trading wasn't exactly new. Trading GIFs of oneself was already quite common on IRC. But I had come from a BBS background, and in the BBS world, in general, picture trading didn't happen. (For one thing, pictures would normally be sent to others via Fidonet NetMail, which cost money.)
So, I had always been against the idea of picture trading. After all, the Internet was being hailed as the first medium of social communication that obscured the traditional social barriers of race, color, physical handicap, and ugliness. Showing others what you look like violates that obscurity.
Personally, I didn't want anyone to know what I looked like. Partly because it was inconvenient to take a picture of myself, get the picture developed, and get the picture scanned; around 1995, quality color scanners were still a luxury item. But also partly because I wasn't comfortable with myself, and especially not my looks or appearance (long hair, glasses, beard). Clearly I felt I benfitted by maintaining the social blind. And as far as I was concerned, displaying a picture of yourself prominently on your home page was not only gaudy, but conceited.
So, it was my personal rule -- I would never have a picture of myself on the Internet. I didn't have a picture of myself on any computer or floppy disk, anywhere.
Then, around 1997, I quite deliberately, and with specific purpose, scanned a picture of myself and instantly put it on the Web, along with the pictures of others. (This was done for the Northeastern RSA E-Board page) Although I was fully aware of what I was doing, it never crossed my mind that I was breaking my rule. In fact, for some time afterward, when online sites asked me for my photograph, I scoffed, saying "I'll never have picture of myself online." Some time later, I realized I had managed to break my rule and not realize it. I started to reneg on that personal rule, and began using that one picture of myself I had absent-mindedly made.
Now, since it's been some time since I finally broke that rule, I've decided to track down, scan, and post any picture of myself I can find. Many of them are fairly old (circa 1995-6); many are pictures taken at parties, or at NACURH conferences. Many pictures are still yet to be posted.
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