subject: Wireless and Satellite Internet Create Scary World for Photophobes [print this page] Wireless and Satellite Internet Create Scary World for Photophobes
Everyone has that one friend who hates having his or her picture taken. The first sign of a camera in the room, and he contorts and twists his body so magnificently that it is utterly impossible to capture his face on film. Arms fly in protest, followed by winey verbal protests: "No! Please seriously no pictures tonight!"
Not so long ago, photophobes' biggest concern was that an unflattering picture of them might exist somewhere out there in the world. Maybe it would be pasted into a brick-like photo album. Maybe it would casually shared with coworkers after a holiday weekend. But most likely the offending image would simply be added to a box of packets of long-forgotten pictures from parties, holidays, and vacations past.
The possibilities for mass dissemination provided by today's satellite internet and wireless technologies make the people of yesterday's fears about having their picture taken seem downright quaint! Now, if someone is taking pictures at an event, those photos will almost certainly end up online within a few weeks time. And now, satellite broadband technology providing service around the country in every location imaginable, the turnaround from the pictures being taken to being on the Internet can be mere hours!
What's more, is that it's not just young people using satellite Internet to share photos. Older people, especially women, are joining social networking websites and picture-sharing services in droves in order to keep up with family and friends across long distances. Grandmothers anxiously wait for their children to post more photos of their growing grandchildren, and take and upload their own photos of family events. These days, the well-loved American baby will have hundreds, if not thousands, of photos of himself online before he even learns to talk! These pictures will be posted by parents and grandparents; aunts, uncles, and cousins; friends of their parentsthe list goes on!
So it must be really hard for someone who hates having their picture taken now! Because not only will these photos end up online, most likely without their consent, but many social networking websites allow photos to be "tagged." What does this mean? Say you post a photo with your friend Betty and your cousin Bob in it. You can label or tag that picture with the names "Betty" and "Bob," and those labels will be hyperlinks to Betty and Bob's profiles on that social networking site. (A hyperlink is a word in a text that you can click on and be directed to another webpage). So say Betty is the photophobe now that picture she thinks is unflattering will be linked to her account, so that all of her friends can see it. Of course Betty can remove the label or "untag" it but in many ways the damage will already be done.
So maybe the answer for those who don't like having pictures taken of them is to "unplug" from this hyper-connected world created by satellite Internet. And the truth is, many of those with scruples about the power of online communities have never joined these social networking and picture-sharing websites to begin with. They probably have an inkling that some unfortunate photos are circulating of them somewhere out there on the Internet, but as the expression goes out of sight, out of mind.
