The Internet provides opportunity for people to put themselves on display—and they do in a variety of ways. At one site alone, over four million people have posted a photo asking others to rate their appearance. The question is, why, especially when the exposure is often less than flattering, even degrading.

A woman named Angela exemplifies the behavior. She subjected herself to brutal comments and a low rating of 1.0 on a 10-point scale, trading it for the joy of finding an admirer or two. Angela said, "It really picked up my esteem to know that there are still some people out there who find me beautiful."

A New York Times article suggests the reason for this phenomenon "is that the world is crowded with people so hungry for attention that they will submit to any number of indignities for even a small bit of it."