http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/technology/04photosharing.html A Stream of Postcards, Shot by Phone. New York Times: June 3, 2011 by Jenna Wortham
This article is about a free mobile application that allows cellphone users to take snapshots and share them in the social networking environment. Instagram is an iPhone only application that users can put special effects over photos. They can upload the photos to their Instagram feed. It is kind of like a Twitter feed only with pictures. Others can see your pictures, “like” them, and comment on them.
Photographs are becoming a new form of communication. People can post their entire day or an entire event in photos, and others are able to see the course of the event. The author of the article, Jenna Wortham said, “People are more accustomed to constantly documenting moments and sharing throughout the day.” (Wortham, 2011)
The article also mentions Photobucket and Twitter have a partnership. This will introduce photo-sharing features. Also Flickr was one of the earliest photo sharing sites. They are working towards creating mobile applications for photo sharing.
I think it is neat how we have yet another way to communicate and open our lives up to social networking. However, think about how this affects your privacy, as well as other people who are in the photos that are being posted.
Do you use a photo sharing or photo social networking site?
How do you feel about photos of yourself being posted by others?
I actually thought about this the other day because I am in Istanbul right now and going to all the tourist sites and I know am in a lot of other peoples pictures. I asked the woman I am traveling with what she thought of this and she said she didn't care because when people look at the pictures they aren't going to be looking at her they will be looking at the focus of the picture. She also commented that they will probably show up her pictures as well, so it was a trade. I can see her point, but I still can help but wonder how many peoples Facebook pages or other social network sites I might appear on in the next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteColleen that is amazing! I hope you are having a great time!
ReplyDeleteI did sports throughout high school/college and I cringe every time I think about the fact that I am present in probably hundreds of photos in those terrible fitting uniforms. But at the same time, photo sharing on Facebook and Flickr is so normal to me now that I hardly think twice about it. We have never had the option of controlling what others post online, so it just became a fact of life. The same goes for newspapers--we are not asked to approve what they print to the public.
If we don't know they are being shared, what can we really do about it? We can always untag ourselves on Facebook, but we have no control over whether or no someone actually uploads a photo that includes us. If it ever did come to the point where photos had to be approved by all participants, I think that the days of uploading albums would be limited.
I would love to participate in some kind of photo sharing site if I had more time. Has anyone ever heard of the 365 Project?
http://365project.org/
I think Colleen's friend is right, if we are in the background of someone else's photo they are not going to really notice because their focus is on the people they know. Ashley has a good point that photo sharing has really become second nature. Everyone loves pictures...they are a lasting document. Which could be positive or negative. We can't control what others post but we can be aware of what we share, of ourselves and others.
ReplyDeleteLibraries strive to ensure people's privacy by requiring photo releases when taking event photographs. It is interesting to note that people always look at you kind of crazy when you ask them if it is okay to photograph and then ask them to sign a release. I don't think they even consider it a right anymore to be asked for permission to be photographed.
This reminds me of the website: peopleofwalmart.com
ReplyDeleteI am sure you have heard about or even looked through the pages, if you ever need a self-esteem boost, I highly recommend it.
Anyway, the concept of the website is that people will go to Walmart in the craziest outfits, without much clothes, or whatever they feel like wearing because there is a rural casualness that no other store has. If someone manages to capture a photo of one of these Walmart creatures, the website posts the photo with (usually rude) commentary. No one knows they are being photographed, no release forms are given, and no names attached to the images.
How does this fit with privacy, photo sharing, and personal freedoms?
I don't worry so much about pictures of myself. I am very protective about my daughters though and get uncomfortable about some of the pictures that get posted with them. I mean, it's one thing if I post it for my friends to see. But if my brother's mother-in-law posts a picture, I don't know who else is seeing it. And I'm not sure I like it.
ReplyDeleteI think the situation has gotten so out of control that we may need to strengthen our nations privacy laws in order to deal with the way we interact with each other. I've been told 10,000 times to do a different privacy setting on facebook, eventually I just gave up.
ReplyDeleteI get frustrated when the "personal responsibility" gang says, "if you don't want people to see a picture of you doing something bad, don't do something bad, and if you do, don't let anyone photograph you". I think our lives are wayyyyy too documented today for that to continue to hold water. There should be laws in place that prohibit future employers from discriminating against you just because you have a picture of yourself balancing a beer on your naked chest on facebook. Especially in today's modern world where if you went to college and you didn't end up naked and covered in beer at any point, then you were probably in the minority, and people still need to have jobs to keep this crappy economy rolling.
There are so many ridiculous photos of me doing ridiculous things out there I have given up. I figure if someone doesn't want to hire me because I was photographed doing something silly than I likely don't want to work for them anyway.
ReplyDeleteYour experience in Istanbul reminds me Colleen, I have a great picture I took at a wine tasting of a girl who was walking by, between my friends and I, without realizing it. It is a gorgeous photo and she looks so pretty I am sure she would want a copy if I could get it to her. I had thought it would be great if I could do a visual search on her photo, to find more photos of her and then find her. And then I thought immediately about how creepy and dangerous that could be. When we talk about protecting our privacy, we have to remember that for some people, it is not always just about making sure their boss didn't know they were at the lakes instead of in the office yesterday - there can be serious safety issues for some people.