I see also that we have three people without photos on today's leaderboard of the six most popular articles.
Those three articles are all interesting and the responses informative. As mentioned, below in other members' responses, it would make the articles so much more impersonal if we could see the people who penned the posts.
If any of you have any difficulty, or don't know how to upload a photo, then please follow Catharine's link above.
'cos you're so funny! ( unless Kate Middleton really applied )
Why?
aww Catharine...you do crack me up! thanks
Will get round to it on Monday think my webcam is knackered so will check for any new drivers that maybe out there or buy a new one tomorrow...
I prefer a real photograph too. I think it's nice to at least see the face when chatting on the chatbox, or replying to discussions. I really hope all those black boxes with "new member" written across the bottom are soon replaced with a photo.
Having real names and photos encourages people to behave in a more social manner, like they would if they were introduced to each other.
Anonymity encourages flaming and trolling which are both undesirable in a community.
One of the rules of SFN is to post a photo. If people don’t want to do this then there are plenty of other forums that they can join.
Totally agree. I feel the same about the use of pseudonyms. It’s refreshing to have (hopefully) real names and photos
Not really no, I’m definitely better fully clothed, unless you want a good laugh 
I can see why you would use your neighbours photo, she’s quite cute 
I do ID check as best I can by checking emails / FB / twitter accounts. We could have had 5000 plus members by now but I do reject those which are ‘dodgy’ - apologies to “Kate Middleton” who recently tried to sign up…
face to face is always the best method of communication but for the widespread ex-pat community this is difficult to achieve so the profile photo is really important as it at least gives the illusion of a face to face chat.
quite agree - this is the only forum I use, had a look at others and most were full of everything I try to avoid and don’t need at all!
Don’t be so diplomatic Fiona 
I really must change my profile photo or you’ll all think it’s always winter here! But yes, they are important because otherwise it’s impersonal, like using a pseudonym. Would you rather talk to someone calling himself mbwa mkali? Or Terry Williams? Same with photos: I’d rather see who I’m talking to.
I feel like I’m talking to a real person when I see the profile pic.
I like to see who I’m ‘talking’ to because there’s a certain person (not on SFN) that I don’t want to inadvertently talk to 
I’m a complete techno- phobe and am not keen on being photographed- these two things to one side it is very important on an open forum like SFN to ‘know’ who you’re talking to. In short it’s just good to see an image of the person who’s asking for/ giving advice or just to see who you’re chatting too and it makes it feel more friendly.
I was guilty of not uploading a photo for quite a while, mainly because I hate looking at photos of myself. Anyway have now done it and I have found that people do interact in a more positive way .
PS. it also stopped the nagging from several people. Win win.
your pic is great - I can only count 1 head. I should probably reassure people that the top of my head is not flat or change profile photo.