Counteracting Backlink Image Credit Scams
Last week someone emailed us to request credit on a photo we’d used. But there was a problem — the photo wasn’t theirs.
When you run a blog that includes articles from multiple authors, (including staff, partners, customers, and freelancers) mistakes happen. I double-checked our post and noticed that we’d already given credit for the photo in question. 🤔
Here is the photo in question — it’s great!
I replied to Carol, letting her know that her team may have made a mistake. They weren’t already giving any link or credit to Christina (despite the Creative-Commons Attribution license) so I also pointed her to where she can find the original photo.
I didn’t think much more of it, until I mentioned this anecdote to a writer I know, and he caught me up on this rapidly accelerating black-hat SEO tactic — using social engineering practices to gain additional links back to their website. Not only was Carol failing to credit the original photographer, it’s possible they were also engaging in bad-faith.
Rather than letting the situation pass, I thought I’d try to make up for their missed photo credit by sharing a bit more about Christina and the Women of Colour in Tech Stock Images.
Back in 2015, Stephanie Morillo & Christina Morillo launched #WOCinTech chat as a Twitter dialog designed to provide women and non-binary people of color a safe space to connect and discuss issues in the tech industry that are important to them.
Through 2015 and 2016 they extended their activities to pull together a series of photoshoots to create stock photos that highlight women of color using technology and in tech places of work. You can find the photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wocintechchat
This work is important — even the most established of companies and industries are struggling to include adequate gender and racial representation. Although many are making efforts, it’s not an easy thing to change, as stock photo galleries typically represent biased stereotypes and assumptions present in the market.
These assumptions are multiplied by algorithms and made visible by search engines, as anyone who has searched for “doctor” and seen page after page of white men can attest. In the real world, people of colour are the majority globally. Yet on stock photo websites, they certainly aren’t.
~Josie Thaddeus-Johns, Inside the lucrative world of stock photography
While royalty-free stock photo galleries like Pexels and Unsplash are excellent places to find a photograph quickly, I’d encourage entrepreneurs, marketings, and writers to take the extra moment to consider representation in their choice of photos. An easy way to deliver on that thought is to check out the WOCinTech Stock Photos for your next project.
And, if you need a more robust selection, here’s a list of a more complete list of 5 free stock photo sources:
At Uvaro, we take pride in the diversity of our students, our team, and (of course) the stock images we choose. We are energized and driven by the growth and success of all of our students, and we’re just getting started! If you’d like to step into tech, you can apply to join our program at uvaro.com
