I did some research on the use of avatars in online communities. Avatars give each user an option to show something about themselves - something witty, perhaps, or some facet of their personality. Something as simple as a color can show a feeling that the user wants to share, even if they aren't thinking about it when they select it. Choosing to use your own picture as your avatar is, in effect, a cop-out. It makes your avatar just be the same picture that you unwillingly show everyone you meet. It doesn't hold any implications (aside from possibly narcissism) and certainly doesn't serve as a token gesture of the separation between real human contact and digital text.