Shame on you, AOL
I wanted to wait until after the chaos following Hurricane Katrina to write about this. It's something I noticed one day while logging onto AOL Instant Messenger. I would have missed it if I had blinked. I'm posting a picture so you can see what I saw.
I don't think this needs explanation, but I'll explain anyway. The woman here is a Hurricane Katrina survivor, probably waiting outside the Superdome. She's crying her heart out because her life has just fallen apart, and her baby looks very sad too. The photo was taken by an Associated Press photographer, who, in a time like this, has nothing better to do but take pictures.
AOL really takes the cake on shame here. They are clearly using this picture of this distraught woman to encourage users to "chat" about how they feel on AOL Instant Messenger. When you consider the fact that AOL uses advertising on their instant messenger, you realize that this is strictly business. The bottom line is they are using this picture to make money. That's a shame.
It's even more shameful that things like this get overlooked. This picture ran for a week on the start page for AOL Instant Messenger. I never heard a thing about it, and I'm probably the first person to say anything. They might as well have pictures of people throwing themselves out of the World Trade Center or drowning in the Tsunami in Asia. They can use it for anything, something like, "We're here for you. Buy our merchandise." or "We're here for you. Use our software." It wouldn't be any different.
Hopefully this doesn't happen again, but my concern is that if this was overlooked, it will reoccur. There isn't much I can do, but at least I could point it out, and you can keep your eyes open for the next abuse a company like AOL commits.
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I think it's an odd choice of photography. How exactly would someone who's just lost everything afford to buy a computer and download AOL Instant Messenger? I'm sure that poor woman has more important things to think about.
I had thought the exact same thing when I saw the picture. Though, I heard in the news that they had computers set up in the Superdome for people to check their e-mail and contact relatives and friends. But how dumb is that? Not a good excuse for keeping everyone locked up in the Superdome for days.