My family is under strict instructions that if I’m ever kidnapped by Guatemalan rebels (it could happen), am the first victim in a global pandemic that started with domestic animals or become in anyway incapacitated in a newsworthy way they’re to distribute three flattering photographs of me to any media outlet that wants them as soon as the news breaks.
Its a long standing fact that if you die overseas of something other than natural causes, are part of a public tragedy, or just can’t speak for yourself after something really weird happens, newspapers, websites and TV stations are going to scramble for any picture of you they can get your hands on.
If all that’s on offer is some Facebook pics of you throwing up in a garbage bin at Schoolies Week - well so be it. Five years ago the chances of a picture like this one of Jason Scorer, who died in Rome after falling into the Tiber this week, ever seeing the light of day in the mainstream media were minimal.
It certainly wouldn’t have been the image that introduced the young back packer to millions of Australians back home who were interested in his sad demise.
Instead a couple of days after the tragedy his family may have been talked into providing a nice portrait of their much-loved son, perhaps from his school formal or a family function.
I’m positive there’s hundreds of lovely photographs of Jason in family albums, or on his parents’ hard drive. But this one of him with a bra painted on his chest in mud is the one that could be found quickly online yesterday morning when news broke Jason had been found in the river with head injuries after a night out on the tiles in Rome.
Perhaps this cheeky pic is exactly the way people who knew Jason would want to remember him, having the time of his life. But the picture was chosen not by them, but by the fact it was the first one that could be found.
Now, thanks to Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Twitter etc, a whole generation has its youthful exuberance on display for all to see. I highly doubt any of them expect the pics of them sticking their tongue in the ear of their best friend or turning up to a fancy dress party in a sexy policewoman catsuit (remember Stephanie Rice), is going to end up on the front page of a newspaper.
(A question for another day - why do all girls on Facebook between 17 and 23 pose by sticking their tongues out through a V shape made by their index and middle fingers?)
I’m really glad my adolescence and early adulthood took place before camera phones and Facebook, so I don’t have to worry too much about what’s floating around in cyberspace (I think).
But anyone more than five years younger than me has an online gallery of their social development, which while confined to the 100 or so people who are interested in each of them (their friends and acquaintances) is relatively harmless.
As soon as things go wrong, however, no amount of profile protecting or security settings will help. If it’s online, someone in the media will find it. And remember - the media’s decision to publish, is only made possible because of yours.
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