Situational awareness and social media involving photography and video rarely accompany one another.
But it’s not hard to see why some are so skeptical about others knowing how to act when out in public when you have places like Auschwitz going out of their way to remind people that visit the former concentration camp aren’t the place to do inappropriate yet common on Instagram poses such as walking on train tracks.
The same train tracks that ferried thousands of people to their deaths in one of history’s most brutal genocides.
The official Twitter account for Auschwitz posted, “There are better places to learn how to walk on a balance beam than the site which symbolises deportation of hundreds of thousands to their deaths.”
The BBC quotes one response to the Tweet, from someone named Francesca, who writes, “This is a very necessary post, our picture taking habits are completely out of control. I may be visiting in the summer. I will make sure I am aware of your photography policy. Thank you for the essential work you continue to do. Without our historical memory we are nothing.”
Moran Blythe said, “I don't understand why people use Auschwitz as a photo op or how they take cheerful selfies at a site that saw the murder of thousands of innocent people.”
Back in 2014, Breanna Mitchell took an unfortunate selfie at the memorial that depicted her smiling. The photo went viral and caused a firestorm of controversy with Mitchell even receiving death threats in the wake of the photo’s release.
The general theme of these incidents is that there are moments when people need to chill out with the likes, follows, and need to be twee.
Be aware of where you are and where you are taking photos as well as how you are presenting yourself in that situation.
