This Atlantic article is 30 years old (and still relevant -- props for that). Here's a related one from yesterday: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2

This Atlantic article is 30 years old (and still relevant -- props for that). Here's a related one from yesterday: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/study-social-cues-are-the-key-to-an-attractive-facebook-profile-picture/262421/ http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/09/study-soci... “What behavioral psychology reveals about your online photos: Comments and approval from other users end up being more important than the way you look.” It's the same phenomenon both times -- social proof. It's the same reason you're more attractive in a club if you appear to be getting approval from other attractive people. The same reason the original PageRank algorithm did a good job of surfacing web pages people wanted to see.