photo tagging

While creating a Facebook fan page for your wedding may be socially acceptable, there are a few wedding-related Facebook posts that are best left unseen. Take this example: one Glamour blogger recently posted a Facebook rant I thought would be pretty obvious: do not tag the bride in photos of her getting ready! The poor blogger was clicking through a bridesmaid's photos from her wedding day and came across a "boudoir shot" of her getting ready! While the photo wasn't tagged (that would have been in serious poor form), it was still smack in the middle of an album containing tons of wedding photos, easily seen by many people!

This wedding season, take note: bridesmaids (or anyone else in the room while the bride is getting ready), do not post half-naked photos of the bride!

While he may have suffered from an initial technological learning curve, my dad has developed a remarkable aptitude for Facebook. A few months ago I helped him set up his own profile, mainly to connect with old high school and college friends, but also to easily share family photos. Well, Dad has now taken "sharing" into "overshare" territory after learning how to tag Facebook photos.

I'm not anti-tag, though I do support using the feature judiciously. My rule of thumb: if you don't think it's a flattering photo, chances are the person you're tagging won't think it's flattering either. I've even started leaving photos mostly untagged, allowing friends to tag themselves. I also like a friend's approach: asking if it's OK to add a tag to a photo.

My father practices no such restraint. Yesterday, I woke up to a flurry of Facebook emails stating I'd been tagged by Dad in some photos taken over the holiday. Some? Try 20, and about two of them were close to being flattering photos. Perhaps it's a little vain of me, but seriously Dad? Can you at least try to uphold my online rep? Untag this photo!

Are your parents or grandparents as tech-savvy as you? Do you have a funny story to share? Then tell us about it by posting to our Funny Tech Stories group! You (and your fam) could end up on GeekSugar.

First Facebook, now Flickr. The online photo site has just released a new feature: People in Photos. According to the site's blog, the feature allows you to tag other Flickr members in your photos by entering a member name or email address and adding the tag, similar to their current "notes" feature.

I'm generally not a huge fan of photo tagging — mostly because there's always the potential of being tagged in an unflattering photo (and there's always the pesky gray line of whether or not to tag a date). Luckily, Flickr feels my pain: you can choose which members are allowed to add you in photos, and who is allowed to tag people in photos you've shared. Plus, if you remove a tag of yourself from a photo, only you can re-tag the photo with your name.

The Flickr FAQ page contains more details and specifics. I'm already getting tag updates from friends in my Flickr feed — it's a great way to discover new photos of people you know.