The subject line in your e-mail account says a friend commented on a
photo of you on Facebook. You click to open it and the message is brief:
“Wow. That’s all I can say.” You don’t remember taking a
“wow” photo. So before you bother to open the list of similar
e-mail subject lines of comments on a photo, you feel compelled to stop
what you’re doing to log in to Facebook.
I don’t know about you, but every time I get an e-mail notifying me that someone has viewed a photo
of me on Facebook, I get an unsettling feeling. It doesn’t subside,
until I log onto the site and view what is usually a group photo at an
event.
With more than 400 million users, Facebook is among the most
trafficked websites in the world. According to the site’s stats, the
average user has 130 friends and creates more than 70 pages of content
each month, including updating posts and adding photos. Social
networking continues to grow fast, but too often common courtesy isn’t
on the radar.
Whether you adopt a real-world friends and former acquaintances only
policy, or an everyone welcome social networking policy, remember
what’s available online stays available.
Consider these gentle reminders and tips:
First and foremost, remember that the Internet is public space. Adjust
privacy settings, so that tagged photos are available to that person
only and not all of their friends. Even then, remember that photos are
often passed around by others.
Don’t tag photos of your friends that could get them in trouble.
Think about threatening someone’s job before adding drunken party
photos.
Ask permission before posting photos of your friends. Just because your
friend saw you snapping pictures in the comfort of a home or social
gathering, doesn’t mean they know an inappropriate or unflattering
photo might be linked to their name online. It could be embarrassing,
both personally and professionally.
Remember, what you consider an innocent photo with good intentions, could be highly upsetting to another party. What if you posted a photo of a co-workers child during a “take your child to work” day. Without seeking permission, you’d have no way of knowing that your colleague fervently opposes having their child’s photo posted online.
Pictures can only be manually removed by the person who posted it. But
they can be available to employers and peers for quite some time. If you
have any doubts about posting a photo, there’s always a quick remedy.
Ask first, then abide by their wishes.
