Why do people post "young girls"...

Thats funny you say that...I just read an article (can't remember where...and I am going to greatly summarize) about a search engine marketer who gets a ton of s*&t from StumbleUpon power users for being a marketer. A friend of his/hers suggested he make his avatar a picture of a young girl and not tell people he is a search engine marketer. Maybe it encourages people to be either a) nicer so as not to hurt a young girls feelings or b) encourages people to follow to their profile/website to learn more. b) doesn't make much sense in this case if they haven't established a profile. or haven't gotten around to it yet, and they are indeed who they are in their avatars.

I haven't heard of that one before. Maybe these people actually are females, but are have put a more cartoon-ish version of themselves or perhaps a model or something instead of themselves for privacy issues?

well....they added pics....but have never posted at all.

I'm a young and female newbie, and to be honest, I'm pretty scared when I post articles etc.  I'm slightly intimidated by the expertise of other users, and I'm worried that my articles will be so obviously "novice" that people won't give them a second glance.

So, perhaps these new 'young girl' types that you write about are in the same boat as me?  I didn't post for a little while; it's nice to get a feel for the community first and to read other people's articles before taking the plunge.

i don't think anyone here has been a jerk to others. People seem to be very helpful to others when posting. My question was about the pictures that are currently on the main page showing new members. they just seemed very odd to me. Like ads from adult sites.

keep posting and keep being a part of the site.

No, I don't think anyone has been a jerk either - being intimidated by the experts is a confidence thing, it's not that anyone is setting out to intimidate me!  I just wanted to offer an explanation in defence of members who don't post (yet)...

Thanks for your encouragement.

People should put up real pictures of themselves if they truly want to succeed in any field.  Do you really want to do business with a cartoon character?  Not me.  I write and market on the internet and have always used my real photo.  There was in the beginning a reason for using your cat's picture or whatever but those reasons have faded  into the horizon as the internet has become more and more a part of peoples lives. 

As far as being intimidated by the "experts" I have to say we are all experts. Whether it be in your own personal life or not we are all experts in what surrounds us.  It is our life's climate and everything that evolves around you is your field of expertise.  Just like fishing,  if you know how to put the worm on the hook and someone else doesn't, then you are the expert!