TTG Plus > FAQs > More on FAQ #208

  • 208. Why is much of social media not a reliable source for trustworthy photographs?

    Because in order to trust a photograph, viewers have to be confident that they can trust any claims being made about the photograph...

    . . . but because of how it is structured and operated, much of social media does not consistently give viewers that confidence.

  • TTG is built on the power of responsibility. Social media is not.

    A. Photographers and publishers who use the TTG label are effectively inviting their audience to scrutinize them closely and call them out for any missteps. (See also trust exchange)

    B. Viewers cannot be confident that they can make “A” happen when they see a photo in any context that doesn’t have the attributes of trusted publishers.

    C. Most areas of social media do not have the things linked in “B.”

    • With social media, viewers often cannot reliably hold an actual person accountable for the claims implied in the TTG label

    • Viewers also know that any TTG-labeled photograph on social media could disappear from being online the minute it is challenged

    • Viewers also know that image theft is rampant on social media (that is, the person claiming to have created an image often is not the person who actually created the image).