Hey, ladies. You know that unflattering picture of you that your girl friend just posted onto Facebook? Chances are that photo was posted out of spite.
In fact, it’s likely that most of the Facebook photos that you don’t like are posted in the same vein.
According to a survey of 1,500 women conducted by British photo gift website My Memory, the majority of women who post unflattering photos of their female friends do so after some type of falling out or emotionally-scarring altercation with a friend.
What’s more, nearly 33 percent of women admit to exacting revenge on that friend by giving her a taste of her own medicine.
It’s an ugly game of online aggression that seems to be spiraling out of control, and Facebook has pledged to provide no support.
According to the Telegraph, the massively popular Facebook has refused to get involved in any cases of photo sabotaging unless the posted photos violated the site’s terms and conditions. Otherwise, individuals involved in the discretion are told to handle the dispute themselves.
Despite Facebook’s recognition of the issue, and ensuing lack thereof, MyMemory cofounder Rebecca Huggler still seemed surprised by the survey’s results.
“To see that so many women deliberately commit ‘photo sabotage’ and upload unflattering pictures of friends is somewhat surprising,” she said in a statement. “Particularly when you consider how many said they’d be mad if the same was done to them.
“Photo sabotage is never kind, but I think we’ve all seen pictures on social networking sites that we know the ‘victim’ won’t be happy with. It’s always a good idea to check with your friends before uploading; they’ll thank you, and it could prevent some serious fallout.”
It’s something to keep in mind, ladies, as you go about posting that funny photo of your friend waking up after a hard night of drinking. Tagging her in the shot may lead to an ugly race to even-uglier-Facebook-photo arms.
Photo via Megan Amram
