Riddle me this: Drones and photography?
14This afternoon I attended a community event. One of the guys that works for me came along to take some photos for a publication. People fell all over themselves to get into the photos. He was swamped trying to get everyone’s names for the cutlines.
While he was taking pics and chasing names, I put a drone up to grab some video and aerial photos for social media posts and our website. Suddenly there was instant mass hysteria and outcries of “invasion of privacy!” The exact same people clamoring to be in the photographer’s pictures were suddenly outraged that some peeping Tom with a drone was stalking them from the sky!
What the eff is wrong with these people!? Like somehow it’s different if the camera is positioned on terra firma??
SMH.
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One is for the whole world to see them shine, the other, they think, is for one person to look at alone in their basement.
At least I think that’s how they think.
@ELUNO
/giphy creeper
The bigger question is this:
Why were you socializing?
@PlacidPenguin I stand firm in my personal boycott of social media.
OTOH, as a business communication and publicity tool, it has it’s place.
@ruouttaurmind
I meant why did you interact with people IRL?
@PlacidPenguin Did my best to blend into the background. Something about the sound of an angry hornet nest above, and me holding a device loaded with dials and switches blew my cover I guess.
@ruouttaurmind
I may have a spare disguise laying around, though you’d have to wait for the next Mehxchange (oh, and actually participate in it).
@PlacidPenguin @ruouttaurmind Actually, I miss the days when a website had the information for things like restaurants, bars etc. Now they all to often have only FB and Twitter presences, but no real (useful) info to be found on them-- like menus, upcoming events etc. Just lots of pictures of folks that have been there for the PAST events…
@chienfou THIS!!! OMG THIS!
It’s a constant chore explaining to my staff why social media is not a substitute for a website with dynamic, current, USEFUL AND INTERESTING content.
They want to use websites to drive traffic to Twitter or FB. I, OTOH, demand we use social media to draw traffic into our infosphere!
@ruouttaurmind
You are my HERO! (Now if they will only listen…)
@chienfou @ruouttaurmind
Disclaimer:
As I’ve said before:
I have no social media accounts.
This is not to say that I don’t recognize its usefulness. It’s just that social media has been viewed as being a way to interact in ways with a company/brand that is not possible on sites.
For a person to use their site to direct everybody to their social media presence is just ridiculous.
@chienfou @PlacidPenguin I deal with companies who don’t believe a website is necessary if they have Facebook and Twitter accounts. Further, many feel that advertising their goods or service is a waste of money if they have social media accounts.
If I hear “Look at Wendy’s after all!” one more time…
There is a huge difference between social media accounts, and a social media presence. Wendy’s has a staff of marketeers who’s sole responsibility is to create said presence. Most small and local business just don’t have the resources it would require to rival the likes of Wendy’s social media campaigns. Also, “Look at Wendy’s after all!” They spend millions in broadcast, print and digital advertising. Their social media presence is only one part of the overall marketing effort.
Side note: Wendy’s is a good example of a company which could rely on an app in lieu of a rich website as their primary venue, such as @snapster described the other day in another thread. They have a well defined product and firmly established distribution chain which does not change often. An appcentric approach might be a best option for business such as this.
@ruouttaurmind What bugs me about businesses or events using fb is the way the information is on a timeline, so you can’t just navigate to what’s of interest. I was asked to be a speaker at a festival that was using fb and they kept announcing changes to the schedule and venue that would instantly be swallowed by people chatting about the event. I finally told them that if they wanted me to be a program participant they were going to have to email me what they wanted the day before the event.
@ruouttaurmind yeah I definitely agree. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to check out a new restaurant/bar/venue only to find out they don’t have any useful information on their facebook page, only a ton of pics of other people that have posted to the page. This results in other plans being made my me.
Like you, I have no ‘social media’ footprint, having neither FB nor Twitter accounts (or snapchat, imgr, tumblr and/or whatever hot platform is out there). If I want you to know what I am doing/thinking I will let you know.
Meanwhile I don’t really give a shit what you are doing at the restaurant in question, I just want to know what I can do/buy/expect to pay there.
It constantly pisses my off when big enterprises offer specials thru an app or FB or whatever, then when you get there the staff doesn’t have a clue what you are talking about.
A great example of this was the total lack of awareness at the local Hardee’s when TMO offered a Hardee’s biscuit promo on the TMO Tuesday app. The front line staff was totally clueless. Eventually it got sorted out, but it was a PITA to get that done.
Call my an old codger, Luddite or whatever, but this all started with the advent of the cell phone which gave everyone an opportunity to ‘broadcast’ their every inane move to their friends/family CONSTANTLY. I can remember being in a grocery store and hearing someone giving a play-by-play of their activity to some poor sap on the other end of the phone. “I’m in front of the green beans. Wow, there are a lot of them to choose from. I was thinking I would make green beans for dinner for John and the kids. Maybe I have a coupon for Libby’s … or is it Del Monte… I’ll just check the expiration dates to see which is fresher. Oh, this one is good til blah,blah blah…”
@chienfou
This very closely resembles the first (and only) Facebook Live video I saw. I had a student intern with big ideas, and integrating FB Live into our projects was one of them. Bless her, she was adorable, but she was the same girl who told me “Of course I fact checked this. It’s on Wikipedia!”
@ruouttaurmind Ah yes… that’s one of my (school teacher) wife’s worst nightmares. “But it’s on the Internet…”
I will never understand the drone privacy thing, and I’m a privacy freak. I’m more concerned that it will crash on my head.
I’ll spy on you quietly with a zoom lens from a safe distance, not with a flying noisemaker thing.
@awk Curiously, not one mention of safety was raised.
Cuz people are stupid sometimes?
@ivannabc Illogical at least.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe from above is not their most flattering angle?
@djslack Fair one!
Its about control of the situation. With the photographer people are able to choose to get into the picture and be in control of the general moment/pose. With a drone people can be photographed at any moment doing anything and not know it is being photographed. They lose control of the situation and can be photographed in a moment they feel less flattering. Its the mystery behind it.
They also can be the outgoing member of their party expressing the views of others. They personally may jump in front of the camera and not be bothered by it, but their friends/family/children may not. They may be the voice of those who are quiet and simply choose to stay out of these situations. As the drone can take a picture at any moment and unclear where the camera is pointed from the ground it can easily take pictures of those who would rather stay away from the camera, where here they are unable to “hide”.
Privacy at a community event in an age where everyone has a camera and a photo biography on social media?
@callow
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@callow my son and I were discussing this the other day… a girl on his school bus yelled at him that he was violating her rights by photographing her. I said it was a fine line, because they go to a private school, but ride a public school bus. We discussed that there really is no such thing as privacy in a public area, but that he should be respectful regardless. Not sure where this whole concept devolved.
BTW, not sure the legal stance, but I sided with manners
@mikibell - I was in Nice some years back as part of a beard (don’t ask) and while strolling the Boul’ I took a pic of a cute French dog. The Frenchman we were with got upset and immediately asked the dog’s owner if it was OK. I have to say, I like the principle!
@aetris Certainly in other countries it is a different view on privacy… but yes, manners matter as I tell my ruggies…
/image drone cleavage shot
What I really would have enjoyed to see is if your buddy stop taking pics and took video of the masses yelling at you about the drone and privacy laws. That would have been fun to see!
@mfladd excuse me while I wipe the coffee off my computer screen (OMG… I LOVE that scene!)
The problem isn’t the location of the camera. The problem is the location of the photographer. If you’re taking pictures with a camera in your hand, everyone knows who the photographer is and where the camera is pointed, and can make a reasonable assumption regarding the use of said photos.
A drone has none of these advantages. Nobody knows who the operator is. Nobody can readily tell where the camera is aimed. Nobody knows for what the pictures will be used. In addition, a drone can capture images of personal information, or down someone’s shirt, from an angle nobody else has. Culturally, we assume evil intent when things like this are not obvious. A photographer on a tall ladder or platform garners far less suspicion than a drone, even if his primary reason for being up there is to get as many cleavage pics as possible.
@ruouttaurmind read the 3rd book in this series… you will figure out why people get perturbed over drones
https://www.amazon.com/Kyle-Achilles-Books-1-3-Box-ebook/dp/B079JKHRTW
@mikibell Love the drones in USA network show The Colony. Also, in Black Mirror, S4, ep 5 “Metalhead”. Tied with the drones in The 100 who guard Becca’s island, for “most badass killer drone”.
/giphy guard drone
GIPHY! AT LEAST TRY. I MEAN, VAGUELY ON TOPIC WOULD BE NICE! At least in in the same hemisphere, right?
SMH @giphy. Pitiful. These bots today…
When I was a kid, bots were respectful and did what was expected of them…
@giphy @ruouttaurmind Yeah, but that’s the cutest video I’ve seen this week.
@moondrake @sammydog’s “Husky in the fridge” from Monday was pretty sweet.
@ruouttaurmind @SAMMYDOG Didn’t see that one. It is indeed cute. If they weren’t such little dogs, and so hairy, I’d want a husky. They are endless sources of fun and laughter. But I like them big and short haired.
I have a very good friend in Panama that makes a VERY good living off this stupidity by contracting with independent sovereign nations and extracting a “tax” from it’s citizenry by creating the only official “portal” in said nation / state to “officially” remove images from online mapping and satellite repositories. As many of these repositories now enhance their image databases with pictures from drones, they triple dip by approving and licensing the company that wants to fly the drone in the country, taxing them after the fee by taking a percentage of each money for each image they capture and sell and then actually taxing the citizenry to remove the images by charging them a fee to do so. I damn near came out of retirement to work for the guy and I have never worked for anyone other than myself my entire life. The thing he has going is like printing currency, legally.
@Pavlov …P.T. Barnum lives on…