Watermarks Are Here to Stay!

So if you checked out any blog posts over the weekend, you might have noticed a watermark added to a ton of photos. This decision has been in the works since July when I read some posts here and here, (there was also a post from a blogger who's picture of her son was stolen multiple times even used on a shirt but I can't find the post) regarding people going overboard with stealing photos, authoring hoax blogs and most specifically the Eli Dirr Hoax.

Follow the links and you can find the full story, but in summation, an 11 year old girl in Ohio named Emily started a blog pretending to be a man that over the course of 11 years, yeah she kept up for 11 years, ended up having a family with 13 total members, including a child with cancer, and a wife who was in a "horrific" car accident that ultimately died after just barely giving birth to a baby. Now a 22 year old medical student, Emily kept up the rouse by stealing the photos of other bloggers, facebookers, and their children.

The whole story is extremely upsetting. It's sickening. It is scary. At first, I sat with the story and considered what ramifications these sick individuals' actions have on the blogging world. I also thought about what something like this would mean for me and this blog. I always considered my blog to be a little blip on the radar. A little place to write about my experiences with food and the recipes that are behind them. I never thought that there was reason to worry. We are just two adults that share our food and life.

I did a little bit more reading as I thought about if this would change my blog. I soon came across a piece of the puzzle that hit hard. To make her story look more realistic, she not only created Facebook accounts for the parents, but she also created accounts for nearly 70 fake friends! She drummed up photos from anywhere and everywhere to run the lives of 70 people. That is where small blogs like mine come into play. I am not as concerned about people stealing photos of my food and projects (please don't do that either, though), but I do care about the personal photos. The fact that someone could steal these memories scares the crap out of me! Especially now that we spend more and more time with The Zambonini family!

So the watermark is here to stay! It is annoying and obnoxious and obscures photos, I know, but I would much rather the photos of my personal life and the kids be safe!