Diigo In Education

But some people do care, especially when someone else has uploaded an unflattering photo or video. Los Angeles screenwriter Mike Bender, who runs AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com devoted to such photos from the past, said a woman who shared a family photo later wrote to say that she was drunk when she submitted it and that her family was upset with her. Bender removed the picture immediately, but it was already all over the Internet. What happens online can have a direct effect on someone's real life reputation, Van Der Heide said, yet people posting photos of others aren't giving them a chance to respond or control how they appear. He said unwarranted photos, videos or comments made about you could potentially "assassinate your credibility."

Today, Rea is a high school math teacher in St. Louis, having given up her modeling dreams. "It's making fun of myself, letting the world know we've all had embarrassing moments," she said. What if her students saw that photo online? "I think it would be funny," she said. "It's good for my students to know that it's OK to make mistakes."

As part of a deal announced Thursday, Google is opening up part of its index to the maker of a high-speed publishing machine that can manufacture a paperback-bound book of about 300 pages in under five minutes. The new service is an acknowledgment by the Internet search leader that not everyone wants their books served up on a computer or an electronic reader like those made by Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Inc.