Yolocaust

In social media the goal is to get more followers and to be recognized. Lately, a huge way to do this on platforms like Instagram and Twitter is to post travel selfies. For example, Royal Caribbean is offering an internship for an individual to go on their cruises and take Instagram travel photography to post on their behalf. Who wouldn't love to travel on a cruise and take photos?


Taking photos when you travel is just what happens. It's the best way to document your trip and share with others what you did and where you went. This past week a Jewish satirist, Shahak Shapira noticed that a lot of people were taking selfies at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. The Holocaust Memorial is there to remember and pay tribute to the millions of people that were murdered during the Holocaust. People that post artsy travel photos in a place that deserves the upmost respect brings up the point to think about where and why you are posting something.

Shapira created a project called the Yolocaust, where he took individuals selfies at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin and photoshopped them with images from the Holocaust. Based on the individual's caption for their selfie, Shapira would pick an image to best represent that.  He then posted these new photos on his website that since has been taken down. The project was so controversial and shared that the twelve individuals that were photoshopped all saw the project.

To get their images taken down, they had to write an email to undouche.me@yolocaust.de. Most of the individuals came to the realization of how their images and captions can impact so many people in a way they did not intend.  They also realized that showing respect at a place like a memorial is not a place to take artsy, travel photos. Pay the respect to the people of the memorial and think before you post. Below are some of the reactions and responses to the Yolocaust project.

A project like this is really intriguing to me, because it shows how quickly a post can go viral on social media. Stories like these prove that messages regardless of their medium have a sincere impact on the way they are shared, perceived and intended.