- Zoe Kleinman
- Technology Reporter
—
10 December 2020
Image source, Dr. Adrian Smith
—
Adrian Smith, with his school-time photo.
–
Adrian Smith was shocked when he found that a photo of him when he was 8 years old had become a meme.
–
He came across the photo on Instagram, but it had come from a blog hosted on the Tumblr microblogging platform, where his image had been used as if it were that of someone’s teenage stepson on the “Teenage stepdad” account (Teenage Stepdad, in Spanish ).
–
By his own account, he was amused, but admits that as a child he would have found it “confused and sad.”
–
Mr. Smith’s discovery has now gone more viral than the meme itself.
–
He’s been in contact with the person who created it, and he’s glad it wasn’t used maliciously.
–
“Teen Stepfather” offered to remove the character he created with his image, but Smith is fine with him continuing to use his childhood image if he wishes.
–
The character associated with the photo was not part of him, Smith says.
–
“I could ignore it, I could go crazy or I could accept it and make it part of my story, and leave it as an example of the random chaos that happens with the things we put on the internet,” says Smith.
–
Smith, who lives in North Carolina, had uploaded the image in 2007 to a blog where people shared photos of the school against a background of laser beams. His photo had been taken in 1992.
–
He says that he remembers being very proud of the photograph and is satisfied that he sees the “raw power” of an 8-year-old in it.
–
“My smile in the photo is pure satisfaction,” he says.
–
Image source, PA
—
Smith says it will allow his children to share his life online.
–
“Forever”
Smith is now the father of very young children, and he says it will be some time before they understand what a meme is, but he is not going to discourage them if they want to share their lives online.
–
“The lesson is that what you upload to the network can last forever and end up taking on a life of its own, but also that the internet does not define you; that does not have to be you,” he says.
–
“Find out who you are first, and if what’s in there fits how you want to define yourself, then use it for that, and if not, don’t use it.”
–
The adult Smith made a career as an entomologist and spreads his knowledge of the insect world on YouTube. He thinks his digital alter ego would look favorably on someone who “puts videos about bugs” on the web.
–
—
–
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC News Mundo. Download the latest version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss out on our best content.
—
