How to Deal with an Embarrassing Photo on Facebook

What to do when an embarrassing picture of you finds its way onto Facebook.

Creating photo albums, posting photos of trips and parties, tagging friends, and commenting on photos on Facebook is a huge part of the social network experience. Facebook got its start as an online social networking site exclusively for college students. The college lifestyle has always been wild and crazy but with Facebook; photos from a recent keg party surfaced within hours.

Fast forward to Facebook now and the college party scene is still well documented on Facebook. But so are all those late nights at the bars, photos of questionable appropriateness, drunken gestures, and simply unflattering photos. And with the addition of Facebook Mobile, these images can be sent from camera phone to Facebook complete with your name tagged in it in less than a minute.

Regardless of what you are doing in the photo or when the photo was taken you may personally decide a photo is embarrassing or doesn't represent you as the way you want to be seen. Plus with employers, school administrators, parents, and even law enforcement browsing Facebook; your digital presence more than ever reflects your real world reputation.

There are multiple things that can be done when you discover an embarrassing picture of you on Facebook.

If it is an old photo that you uploaded yourself you can simply locate the photo in your Facebook photo albums and click "Delete Photo." The photo and any associated tags will instantly disappear from your profile. Keep in mind that if the photo was copied or downloaded, those copies may still be floating around somewhere.

If you find yourself tagged in a photo you find you don't want to be seen in, log in and click on the photo. Even if it is not your uploaded photo you can click on "Remove Tag" or "Untag" next to your name under the photo. Once untagged the photo no longer appears under your collection of photos in which you are in.

However the photo still remains on the original uploader's account and can be viewed by anyone that is approved by the uploader to view the photo. Also anyone else tagged in the photo can still view it; it just becomes unlinked from your personal Facebook profile.

If someone tags you using a nickname or a name for you different from your Facebook profile name (such as a first name only) the tag in text is viewable with the photo. While it doesn't link to your account, people can hover over the name tag and see which one is you. You can ask the uploader to remove the text tag but you cannot do so yourself.

As a final attempt and if you really want a photo off of Facebook you can ask the uploader to verify you are untagged and then delete the photo from their Facebook account. While they don't have to comply with this many friends will agree to help you out and do so. If the photo is copied or also uploaded by other users you will need to contact them as well.

You can also click "Report Photo" under the photo you want removed if the photo is more than embarrassing and potentially shows nudity, is extremely offensive, or any illegal activity is visible in the photo itself. Facebook won't delete photos just because you are embarrassed and Facebook can still choose not to delete certain photos unless they are truly in violation of their terms and conditions.