# Ethical Concerns Regarding Posting a Video to Social Media **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 13, 2026, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871 "2026-06-13T16:12:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/1 "2026-06-13T16:12:16Z")
I took a video of a flight archer accidentally shooting an arrow through his hand. The arrow exploded on release, and the remaining part went through his hand. His response was surprisingly calm. This was about 15 years ago, and I have never posted it anywhere. If I were to post it, are there any ethical concerns with this type of video? This was a public event. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/2 "2026-06-13T16:57:12Z")
The ethical concern I would have is that it _was_ filmed 15 years ago when people had less expectation of everything they do in public potentially ending up on social media. Thanks to technology and the resulting cultural shift, I think it is open season on that sort of thing. I, personally, might have qualms, but my compass hasn’t kept up with society’s. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/3 "2026-06-13T17:35:35Z")
Personally, I find the idea of posting a video of someone’s serious injury, especially without their knowledge, to be ethically questionable. I regularly scroll past anything that hints of that and don’t click because I don’t want to encourage it. It’s common to see injury videos of famous athletes, but those are public figures, which I think is a little different. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/4 "2026-06-13T17:39:51Z")
My thought is that posting that video showing such a calm reaction to such a violent action might now cause people to believe that it is AI-created. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/5 "2026-06-13T17:44:09Z")
Is there any way to reach out to the injured party? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/6 "2026-06-13T18:41:37Z")
Get the person’s consent to post the video, and all is fine. If you don’t have it, don’t post it. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/7 "2026-06-13T19:00:23Z")
What would even be your motivation to post it? Just to get fake internet points? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/8 "2026-06-13T19:05:51Z")
I’d post it. This happened in public and 2011 is well within the range where you would expect videos of a public sports competition to be posted online. It is hard to come up with any harm that would come to the person for people seeing this video, and you would likely be praising them for holding it together, not bullying them like in certain other kinds of videos. The main ethical concern I’d actually see is making sure people who don’t want to see it can opt out. So no use in Shorts or Reels or TikTok without a multisecond disclaimer\* giving them a chance to swipe away. (On a regular YouTube video, the title and thumbnail could be sufficient.) Other than that, none of what you describe seems out of the norm for these types of videos. \*said disclaimer can just be a description of what is going to happen, not an explicit warning of gore. I don’t actually see a lot of explicit content warnings. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/9 "2026-06-13T19:07:04Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Get the person’s consent to post the video, and all is fine. If you don’t have it, don’t post it. This. While I assume the incident occurred in public, I would be hesitant posting it without the victim’s permission. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/10 "2026-06-13T19:19:01Z")
This is kind of how I feel about it. The thread I was going to post it in is about flight shooting being dangerous for just this reason. But I know once the post is online it stays there ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/11 "2026-06-13T20:05:39Z")
Would the image be identifiable by someone who knows that person? If yes, then could you just blur the face? Otherwise I see no problem with posting as is. ETA: This is assuming you’re not in contact with the person involved. If you are then I think it would be polite to ask them. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/12 "2026-06-13T23:30:47Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > The thread I was going to post it in is about flight shooting being dangerous for just this reason. But I know once the post is online it stays there Just realize that it will get reposted endlessly all over the web. It’ll end up in compilations of dumb mistakes, tragic accidents, gory scenes, stupid tricks gone wrong, sports injuries, reaction videos, etc etc etc. Is it worth doing that to someone? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/13 "2026-06-14T14:14:56Z")
Some questions for _you_: 1. What is the purpose of your wanting to post the video? Are you doing a safety presentation? Are you highlighting an accident or investigation of some sort? 2. Can you post _ **stills** _ (single images) of the video? Can you crop 'em down to avoid any potential identifying features–focus on the arrow through the hand without the archer’s face/body? I kind of agree with not posting the whole video, but there could be elements worth sharing with a little preparation. . . Tripler Those 80’s black bars across the eyes _never_ worked. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethical-concerns-regarding-posting-a-video-to-social-media/1030871/14 "2026-06-14T16:05:26Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > 1. What is the purpose of your wanting to post the video? Are you doing a safety presentation? Are you highlighting an accident or investigation of some sort? Someone started a thread on the dangers involved in flight shooting. This is actually one of the more common accidents that happen. It just seldom gets caught on video. So it was just concurring with the poster on the sport having dangers. It is possible that close examination of the reel might reveal a mistake that was made by the archer, but I believe the arrow he chose was just not strong enough.