Week 11 Quick Response

I loved reading about Scumbag Steve and Ermahgerd girl, mostly because I always think about the actual person in the photo: what do they think of this photo? Is this embarrassing? Do they even know they’re being analyzed and remixed? Inspired by these readings, I went on to read about Good Guy Greg, Annoying Facebook Girl, and Bad Luck Brian. All of these meme “celebrities” eventually decided to embrace their meme stardom, and the Internet loves them for it.

King writes: “Ordinary people blessed by the meme gods react in different ways to their overnight Internet stardom. Some sense an opportunity and try to monetize their celebrity. Others hire lawyers and send letters pleading or demanding (usually fruitlessly) that the offending images be removed.”

My impression from reading these interviews and stories is that if you were to seek legal help with taking down these photos, you would be looked down upon for “not taking the joke well” or “taking it too personally.” However, I believe if an embarrassing (and personal) photo is plastered everywhere on the Internet, there should be some kind of infrastructure set up to help you rectify this wrong. And, you shouldn’t be expected to not be offended by the things people write on your photo.

I’m not sure if Reddit, Facebook, or other social image-sharing platforms will ever really get a handle on photo sharing and embarrassment, but I believe they should try a bit harder.