brant interactive

Prior to reading reading a Jakob Nielsen article on the 10 *wrong* things one can do with a blog I was on the fence, really, as to whether having a photo was useful or not. But his argument seems pretty convincing:

2. No Author Photo

Even weblogs that provide author bios often omit the author photo. A photo is important for two reasons:

* It offers a more personable impression of the author. You enhance your credibility by the simple fact that you’re not trying to hide. Also, users relate more easily to somebody they’ve seen.
* It connects the virtual and physical worlds. People who’ve met you before will recognize your photo, and people who’ve read your site will recognize you when you meet in person (say, at a conference — or the company cafeteria if you’re an intranet blogger).

A huge percentage of the human brain is dedicated to remembering and recognizing faces. For many, faces work better than names. I learned this lesson myself in 1987 when I included my photo in a HyperCard stack I authored that was widely disseminated on Mac-oriented BBSs. Over the next two years, countless people came up to me and said, “I liked your stack,” having recognized me from the photo.

So I added one… in the ‘about’ section. Yeah, I’m looking good.