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Look, I’m no technophobe: I have nothing against new, forward-thinking stuff. But some of these options we’re given just seem to me like we’re given new things to fight about, and that’s exactly what happens in the story below. Both the problem and the solution are in it are just that: opting in to a fresh new space for misunderstanding and social drama, and then deciding to kick the ball out of the field and stop playing stupid games altogether.
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AITJ for deleting our shared album after they kept posting my worst pics?
gentlecottage_ink
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Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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I’ve got a friend group I’ve known since college (I’m 30M). We have this shared Google Photos album that started out normal: trips, birthdays, random dumb memes. Over time it turned into this thing where a couple people (mostly “Jake” 29M and “Mia” 28F) would ONLY add the most unflattering pics of me. Like mouth open mid-bite, eyes half closed, weird angles, you know the deal. At first I laughed it off because whatever, group chats are cringe sometimes.
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But then it started leaking outside the group. Jake would screenshot and toss them into other chats, or show them to new people like “look how pale he looks here” and everyone would laugh. I’m not a model, I don’t care about looking perfect, but it’s humiliating when it becomes a running joke. I told them multiple times, not even dramatic, just “hey can we chill with the ugly screenshots, it’s getting old.” Mia always did that fake apology thing like “omg sorryyy I didn’t think you cared” and then the next week she’d upload another pic where I look like a goblin.
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Last month we went to a friend’s game night (nothing big, like 8 people). Jake had pulled up the album on the TV to “show memories” and of course he scrolls right to a pic of me bent over tying my shoe, shirt riding up, looking like a total mess. People were laughing, and I just felt my face go hot. I asked him to stop, right there, and he goes “relax, it’s funny, don’t be so sensitive.” That wording always annoys me. After that night I messaged both of them again: stop adding these, stop sharing them, I’m not asking for much.
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Two days later Mia uploads a burst set of like 12 photos from that same night and at least half of them are me mid-sneeze or mid-blink, plus a caption “our king 😭”. Jake reacts with laugh emojis and says “legendary”. At that point I snapped a bit. I went into the album settings and deleted the whole shared album. Like not just removed myself, I deleted it entirely so it’s gone for everyone.
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Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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Now my phone is blowing up because “you erased years of memories”, “that was petty”, “you could’ve just left”, etc. One friend said I’m acting like I’m the main character and ruining it for everyone because I can’t take a joke. Jake called me and said I’m i in the wrong for “punishing the whole group” over “a few pictures”.
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I get that maybe there was a less nuclear option, but I honestly felt like if I just left, they’d still keep those pics and keep sharing them, and I’d have zero control. The album was the source. Also, it’s not like I didn’t warn them like 5 times, they just kept doing it.
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AITJ for deleting the album?
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TL;DR: Friend group kept uploading and sharing unflattering photos of me despite me asking them to stop. After they did it again, I deleted the shared photo album for everyone. Now they’re mad I “deleted memories”.
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Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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So in the above story, it started as a normal photo album, the kind you fill with group trips and birthdays. Then a couple of friends decided it was way more fun to collect every unflattering pic they could find. Mouth open, eyes closed, shirt half-off, nothing was off limits. At first, it was just group chat cringe. Then the screenshots started showing up in other chats, other gatherings, with new people laughing at the same old jokes.
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The requests to stop were never dramatic. Just a simple “hey, can we cool it with the ugly pics?” The responses were always the same: fake apologies, promises to do better, then another batch of terrible photos a week later. The excuses never changed. It’s just funny. Don’t be so sensitive. You can’t take a joke. The real issue wasn’t the photos. It was the way boundaries were treated like punchlines.
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Deleting the album wasn’t about erasing memories. It was about cutting off the supply. The album was the source, the place where the joke kept getting fed. Leaving it up meant giving permission for the cycle to continue. The reaction was instant. Accusations of pettiness, of being the main character, of punishing everyone over a few pictures. Some people will always treat boundaries like suggestions, and some moments just need to be shut down, even if it means losing a few memories in the process.
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Some things are better off deleted, just like some games should end with someone kicking the ball out of the field and shutting it down.
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