# I'm a Facebook Luddite. Please translate this email my friend sent me. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273 "2013-09-19T23:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/1 "2013-09-19T23:28:40Z")
A friend who I have not seen in a long while and I have been catching up. We’ve been exchanging photos via email. Today she wrote me this: “Just had an idea for sending photos that will help me keep track of good ones. I can just search your name. Are you willing to be my file tag for good pics? You have a good eye.” What exactly is she asking of me? Is this a FB thing? (She is very active on FB, whereas I have a FB page but never use it.) I’m a little confused, and too embarrassed to ask her directly. Thanks all, in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/2 "2013-09-19T23:46:21Z")
Dear Friend– Sorry if this makes me sound like a luddite, but I’m really not up on the latest Facebook tech. Can you please explain what you are asking me to do? Thanks– **stuyguy** PS: I almost asked an online message board what you meant instead of just asking you directly. Can you imagine? Anyway, have a great day. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/3 "2013-09-19T23:50:51Z")
It’s not you, the question makes no sense to me, either. I don’t think it has to do with Facebook, but she might be asking if she can “tag” you in her favorite photos on Facebook. In doing so, she would be assigning your name to those photos, presumably whether you appear in them or not. Depending on her privacy settings and yours, this would mean that all your friends would be able to see those photos. I have never heard of anyone doing this. Another possibility is that she’s thinking of using your name as a label on the metadata of her photos. But why would she need to add your name? Why not just “good photo” or any other random thing that she can search for later? And if she does want to tag all her good photos “stuyguy,” can’t she just do it and not tell you? Or, is she simply asking you to look at her photos and select the best ones for her? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/4 "2013-09-20T01:16:49Z")
> [@Little\_Bird](#): > > Dear Friend– > Sorry if this makes me sound like a luddite, but I’m really not up on the latest Facebook tech. Can you please explain what you are asking me to do? > Thanks– > **stuyguy** > > PS: I almost asked an online message board what you meant instead of just asking you directly. Can you imagine? Anyway, have a great day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/5 "2013-09-20T02:36:16Z")
> [@vix](#): > > I don’t think it has to do with Facebook, but she might be asking if she can “tag” you in her favorite photos on Facebook. In doing so, she would be assigning your name to those photos, presumably whether you appear in them or not. Depending on her privacy settings and yours, this would mean that all your friends would be able to see those photos. I have never heard of anyone doing this. That was my guess, but I don’t understand the “good eye” comment then. I’d say no to that. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/6 "2013-09-20T02:49:21Z")
I think she’s asking you to tag photos you like as if you were in them. Sometimes people tag others in photos that they are not in, just to bring the photo to their attention. She would then search for photos “of” you but instead the photos you tagged as having you in them would come up, regardless of whether you were actually in them or not. It seems weird, and you should say no. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/7 "2013-09-20T03:27:14Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > I think she’s asking you to tag photos you like as if you were in them. Sometimes people tag others in photos that they are not in, just to bring the photo to their attention. She would then search for photos “of” you but instead the photos you tagged as having you in them would come up, regardless of whether you were actually in them or not. > It seems weird, and you should say no. Agree with this. If she really wanted some way to tag her photos, she could set up a fake account named “Good Photo”, and just tag that fake account instead of you. Otherwise you’ll have people asking why you’re tagged in a photo of someone else’s dog or christmas tree or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/8 "2013-09-20T04:14:24Z")
She wants the d. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/9 "2013-09-20T08:47:56Z")
She has pictures and she doesn’t know or remember who these people are and wants you to id them by tagging them in facebook. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/10 "2013-09-20T09:52:01Z")
Here’s how I would reply: “I’m not clear on what you mean. Are you asking for my permission to be tagged in photos containing me? Or are you wanting to tag photos with my name, in order to get my feedback on your photos?” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/11 "2013-09-20T12:23:07Z")
“I’ve had it with your passive-aggressive bullshit. Go to hell!” That solves it! ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/12 "2013-09-20T14:38:20Z")
You’ve been exchanging pictures by email. She’s saying that if she sends you all her good pictures, then any time she wants to see her good pictures, she can search her email for your name. Your email address will be her search tag for a good picture. If one were to infer, based on your… unusual… level of abashedness about not understanding this that this is the kind of old friend who you want to have sex with, one might also point out that this is a convenient way to point to a desire for regular correspondence with you in the future. I don’t know if that’s the case. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/13 "2013-09-20T14:52:18Z")
Tagging isn’t always used for putting names to faces. If you see a funny picture that you want other people to see, you tag them so they get a notification and will also see it. What I think the friend wants to do is to just upload a bunch of pictures to FB and tag the OP so he’ll get a notification and can access the pictures without going through email. Then he can tell her if it’s a good picture or not. After that, he/she can untag the OP accordingly. A potential minor problem would be that his friends will see this activity on their newsfeed unless he somehow gets into the privacy settings and sets something up. Then again, if he’s not very active on FB to begin with, it’s a moot point on a mostly moot point to begin with. And/or she wants the D. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/14 "2013-09-20T15:03:50Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > You’ve been exchanging pictures by email. She’s saying that if she sends you all her good pictures, then any time she wants to see her good pictures, she can search her email for your name. Your email address will be her search tag for a good picture. > > If one were to infer, based on your… unusual… level of abashedness about not understanding this that this is the kind of old friend who you want to have sex with, one might also point out that this is a convenient way to point to a desire for regular correspondence with you in the future. I don’t know if that’s the case. OP here. So I asked my friend for clarification, and **Jimmy Chitwood** gets the brass ring for figuring out what she meant. (I’m hoping that what **Jimmy** wrote in paragraph two is correct as well!) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/15 "2013-09-20T15:15:17Z")
> [@stuyguy](#): > > OP here. So I asked my friend for clarification, and **Jimmy Chitwood** gets the brass ring for figuring out what she meant. > > (I’m hoping that what **Jimmy** wrote in paragraph two is correct as well!) Do you have a gmail account? If so, have her send them to “youremailprefix+photos@ [gmail.com](http://gmail.com)”. You can add a “+anythingyouwant” to the end of a gmail address prefix (the first part of text that comes before the “@”) and it will still get to the recipient. Makes it easy to search for. And if you don’t want her communicating with you, she could just send them to herself doing the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-a-facebook-luddite-please-translate-this-email-my-friend-sent-me/669273/16 "2013-09-20T15:19:43Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > She wants the d. Yup.