Please, close the windows to your souls.

 Here's one of many questions that have been rolling around in my mind lately.

Why do people like taking pictures of their eyeballs?  Why do they like posting their eyeball pictures on the Internet and passing them off as self-portraits? Why do authors in particular like doing this?
Are such photos supposed to make the subjects look mysterious? Insightful? Are they supposed to hypnotize readers into buying books?  I don't know. That's why I'm asking. 
Shamefully, I admit I considered doing this a few years ago. But when I tried photographing my own eye(s), the attempt didn't go so well. Not only couldn't I seem to hold the camera at the correct angle, which usually resulted in a shot of my forehead or of a few paltry lashes overwhelmed by surrounding wrinkles (which kind of looked like fly legs stuck in a spider web), but the flash nearly blinded me. 

In any case, the novelty of eyeball portraiture on profile pages has worn off -- at least for me. These ubiquitous photos creep me out.  I'm beginning to think the people who post them are all members of a secret society.
Here's a suggestion to folks who aren't members of a secret society but are maybe just bashful:  You might want to consider representing yourselves via other body parts.  I don't mean you should parade your privates. The 'Net already has a surfeit of exhibitionists.
(Of course, I'll make an exception for men with really extraordinary asses like the one on the left.  There can never be enough "art" photos of Grade-A manbutt.  I do ask, however, that guys who consider this option be objective in their assessment of their assets, lest the Web be flooded with pictures like the one on the right.)

What I mean is, you have toes, belly buttons, ears, noses, kneecaps, elbows -- all kinds of wonderful body parts. Please, shy people, consider taking snapshots of those. I need a change.