The younger generations now have the opportunity to laugh at their parents and friends of their parents through the internet where you can see old haircuts, regrettable tattoos, wearing tights or grimacing.
But not all of which appear in these images seems like a good idea.
These images, which were never taken with the intention to be seen except for a small circle of friends or relatives buried in the pages of a family album or wall of a home, are now reaching the network.
Americans who were spending his youth before the birth of the internet are opening their private lives into the world are picking through dusty boxes in search of photographs to share them through Facebook and other sites, sometimes to the chagrin of family and classmates who appear in group photos.
Most people who share old photographs are just having fun, but the practice can serve as a kind of collective catharsis.
"There's definitely a bit of exhibitionism involved," said Brandon Van Der Heide, a professor at Ohio State University who studies the social implications of the Internet. "It's a way that allows people to connect with something familiar to them and laugh at themselves."
Nikki Smith, one Facebook user who is 37 and resides in the state of Kentucky, used the scrapbooks that developed while she was a teenager and began to scan the old photos to upload them to your computer. The pictures were traveling 20 years ago, when the cuts were long hair, pullovers were larger and were the fashion Air Jordan sneakers and aviator sunglasses.
"We really had a very bad hair style in my senior year in college," said Smith. "But we all know. We were all there."
Smith said that turning the pictures to Facebook allowed everyone you know "laughing out loud."
His decision also contacted many of his old classmates from high school. A photograph, which shows Smith posing with his company, school dance, all with blue and white tights and knee-high boots, generated over 40 comments from other Facebook users.
"I do not think any of the pictures is so horrible," said Smith. "That happened 20 years ago, who cares?" He added.
Apparently some people do care, especially when someone has gone to the network some unflattering photo or video.
Screenwriter Mike Bender, who lives in Los Angeles, manages the site AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com (Family Photo embarrassing), dealing with such images of the past. He said a woman who shared a family photo for that page he wrote later to say that it took a few drinks when sent and that his family was upset with her. Bender immediately withdrew the picture, but it had been copied and was circulating on the Internet.
What happens online can directly affect the reputation of someone in real life, "said Van Der Heide, because those people who upload the photos of others not being given the opportunity to respond or to control how it will look. He said that certain photographs, videos or unjustified statements made on any person could "kill your credibility."
Online Photos also have the "potential for loitering, being copied and redistributed in such a degree that even if you delete the original little could be done to remove the shame, said Amanda Lenhart, research specialist at Pew Internet Project on the American lifestyle.
Facebook gives users limited control over the pictures shared by friends. Users can remove the "tags" (labels) that identify individuals in photographs, to make it harder for someone to find the picture if you do a search.
Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich said users must "maintain an open dialogue with their friends who decide what kind of photographs rather than rising to the Internet."
Bender, AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com suggests to first ensure that all photographs appearing in a certain agree to upload to the network before they show something that apparently is funny and harmless.
"We're not trying to humiliate anyone," said Bender. "We really want people to have fun with it."
Olivia Rea sent his fourth-grade school portrait primary school LaserPortraits.net the site, a site dedicated to pictures of the 1980s and 1990s, complete with fluorescent lights in the background.
In his portrait of young, she displays a timid look, waiting, with Harry Potter-style glasses and braces. In a commentary accompanying the photo, she admits that at that time thought of becoming a model. Currently, she is a math teacher at a secondary school in San Luis.
"It is to laugh at yourself, to show the world we've all had embarrassing moments," he said.
What if your students see that picture online? "I think it would be funny," he replied. "It's good that my students know that is also okay to make mistakes."
