Tampa Photography Blog

An Israeli Reserve officer recently posted photos on her Facebook page of her smiling at blindfolded Palestinian prisoners.

“There’s no violence or intention to humiliate anyone in the pictures,” Eden Abergil tells Army Radio. “I know I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.

The problem really isn't the photos--compared to the ones that surfaced from Abu Ghraib in 2006, these are in better taste, if that's what you want to call it.

The question is this: when will people stop posting career-damaging photos on social media websites and when will employers stop using personal profile pages as a way to punish them? In most instances, I have to side with the employers. If you're stupid enough to post tasteless photos of yourself abusing a prisoner, getting drunk or doing drugs or maybe just some photos that are a little too sexy, that's your own fault. That’s what privacy settings are for—to exclude those people who shouldn’t see your personal photos.

I don't have government secrets nor do I do drugs or have half-naked photos on my personal Facebook page. BUT, I do have a separate page for my business where clients can still connect with me but they don't have to read if I'm going for a drink with a friend on Friday night. I keep my personal page for my family and friends.

You never know what someone's opinions or prejudices are so I think it's better to be safe.

Another example of Facebook postings gone bad was when Israeli Defense Forces had to cancel a West Bank raid after a soldier posted detailed information on the upcoming mission on his wall.

This month in Cleveland, a woman typed in the name of the woman she thought her husband was having an affair with and photos of his wedding to the mistress at Disney World appeared! The husband claimed she already knew and was doing it as a publicity stunt. Who knows...

Some folks are using the social media for good—or at least to deter others from being bad. The Police Department of Evesham Township, New Jersey has decided to post names and mug shots (arrest photos) of DUI offenders on their Facebook page.

Have we gone too far?