Sharing Day, Gravatar edition

A gravatar or avatar is the little icon that appears next to your comments on various online sites. So my question for you on this Sharing Day is:

Why do you use the avatar or gravatar you have?

I'd love a description of what it actually is as well, if it's not blindingly obvious. I really enjoyed hearing your stories about why you use the name you do online, so I look forward very much to hearing the story of your visual id too.

If you don't have a gravatar or avatar, I encourage you to make one, then post it here.

If you like, in return for answering my question to you, you may ask a question of me on any topic and I'll do my best to answer honestly and completely. Just leave your reply (and question, if any) as a comment. The goal is to learn a little more about our community!

(Image via.)