Photos and videos on social media: share with care
A United States guide to choosing what to upload, checking location and tagging settings, and respecting others in your photos.
2 min read · Oct 13, 2026
Photos and videos are some of the heaviest things we post, but we do not claim a carbon figure for one upload, since platforms, devices and storage differ and we have no source for such a number. ECOA's methodology treats any estimate as educational. A more reliable reason to upload less is control: what you post, who sees it and who appears in it.
CISA, the United States cybersecurity agency, says that photos, whether self-posted or tagged by others, can reveal personal details. CISA: Manage your Online Presence
Choose what is worth posting
Before uploading, ask whether the photo or clip adds something. One good picture often says as much as five near-duplicates, and deleting the extras from your camera roll is a small tidy-up. Platforms differ in how they store and process uploads, so we make no claim about what a smaller file changes. Do not shrink an image so far that text or detail becomes unreadable.
Check location and tagging
CISA recommends disabling geo-tagging and location sharing, and it lists making accounts private and controlling tagging approvals among its privacy-setting suggestions. Look in the app and your phone's camera settings, as the options vary by platform and version. Avoid posting travel plans in real time.
Think about other people
Group photos, children and bystanders did not all choose to be shared. Ask before posting a photo of someone else, particularly a close-up or a child, and respect a no. CISA says apps may access photo libraries, location and contacts if permitted, and recommends reviewing what each app requests. CISA: application permissions Deleting a post may not remove copies others already saved, so think before posting.
Try one change
For a month, post only after a pause, or review one setting such as location tagging. Note how it feels. That is a personal observation, not a measurement.
Sources
Estimated savings from sticking to these habits are explained on the methodology page. Focus on the habit change itself rather than on absolute numbers. Read the methodology
Keep reading
Guides that overlap with this one or make a good next step.
- Photo and video libraries: keep the memories you can findA United States guide to organizing media copies and backups without promising carbon savings or data deletion.
- Social media: choose what earns your attentionA practical United States guide to revisiting social feeds, autoplay and uploads without claiming a fixed carbon saving.
