Ensuring that these listings contain only true information at all times is a huge task.Ī Google Maps support page says that all user-contributed photos have to be “relevant.” Relevant photos, according to Google, are taken at the location in question and don’t include stock photos or photos taken by someone other than the person uploading it. Google Maps is monumentally large, receiving “more than 20 million user contributions a day,” according to a spokesperson. Some listings show images containing the n-word. Google removed the video after it was brought to the company’s attention.Īnother listing showed an ableist screenshot from 4chan, a site that hosts hateful and extremist content. One listing had a video of Power Rangers giving the Nazi salute in front of a swastika. Hateful and offensive content sometimes appears on listings for middle and high schools on Google Maps. “Out of all the things I would be chatting to a BuzzFeed writer about,” Henderson said. Students uploading photos like the “Uh Oh Stinky” monkey, SpongeBob memes, “Comrade Doggo,” or a picture of bread on a skateboard often use Google accounts associated with fake names like “Jake McQueef,” “Juul Is cuul,” “「potato man」,” and “7ate9.”Īlthough most of the pictures were removed, an ALF photo remains in the Google Maps gallery for Northfield Middle & High School. Google hopes that users will upload information to help people navigate their worlds “faster and easier.” But artists and teens alike have discovered that Google Maps is an opportunity to share funny content in an unexpected context. “I was probably just bored in class with a friend.” “You would get a face full of ALF”Īnyone with a Google account can upload a photo to Google Maps just by opening Google Maps, choosing a location, and selecting the "Add a Photo” option. “I honestly don’t remember what I was thinking and why I decided to do it,” Cooper Vandenhaak, a sophomore at West Linn High School who uploaded this picture of potatoes to his high school’s Google Maps listing, told BuzzFeed News. Teens have bombarded hundreds of listings for their middle and high schools in all 50 states with memes, cursed images, random photos, and edgy content that generally isn’t supposed to be included in a photo gallery for a location on Google Maps. Effingham County High School isn’t alone.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |