Sunday, February 24, 2008

Online Etiquette?

I happened upon the Miss Manners section on msn the other day, and found this article about online etiquette and whether or not it is okay to post pictures of people on the internet without their permission. From the sounds of this article, the lady may not have liked anything her step-daughter did, or she may have been drunk in the pictures and doing unsavory things. I don't know. But, it made me think about the repercussions of having your picture on the internet. First of all, I would never post a picture of someone that I really thought showed them in a bad light, because I do realize that it's not nice and lots of people could see the picture. Also, I would hope that if I did post a picture of someone that they did not want posted, that they would tell me and ask me not to post any more pictures of them, or to remove that particular picture.

So, anyway, I was just kind of curious what you all thought about that. Does it make you mad when someone posts a picture of you on their website or blog? If you thought that a picture or story about you that someone posted on their blog might show you in a negative way or hurt your chances of getting a job in the future, would you simply ask that person to remove it? Or, would you just complain to all of your friends that they did that and never mention it to the blogger? I am just curious.

After saying all of this, please note that if I ever post a picture that you do not want to be on my blog or if you think that something I say on my blog is inappropriate, whether it is about you or not, PLEASE tell me! I do not want to say something that could scar children or in anyway reflect negatively on anyone.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would tell you if you had pictures posted of us that I didn't want on your blog.
Tracy

Unknown said...

I think it's very important to be responsible and courteous when posting photos of people on the Internet. I try to make sure I have people's permission before posting any pictures of them. Not only is it a case of courtesy, but some people for various reasons (witness protection, sensitive military) cannot have their identity revealed.

This is also particularly important with people with children, especially given how many creepy people there are out on the Internet. In addition to getting permission, I generally stick to the rule of not posting childrens' full names with their photos.

All that being said, I always enjoy reading your site, post all the pictures of us you want! I'm pretty sure by now if people don't know who I am, they aren't looking hard enough.

Marcy said...

Tracy and Jeff - thanks for your comments. I appreciate both of your opinions! Jeff, I love reading your blog too! The girls are too cute!