I am dyslexic so find processing of large amounts of text difficult. I also tend to think visually so having a picture (either photo or image) helps to identify who is is writing what. I find reading email on Facebook easier because you have a visual reminder of who is writing. But I hate animated images with a vengance - they detract me from what I am really trying to read. So I am moderately in favour of them, provided there are static and limited in size. And people who don't like to see them to swithch them off when they read the forum. [edited for typos - there are probably more :-)]