LONDON - Nearly half of all the photographs that Europeans take end up online, according to a survey - with the Russians the keenest on taking snaps of themselves.

LONDON - Nearly half of all the photographs that Europeans take end up online, according to a survey - with the Russians the keenest on taking snaps of themselves.

The Nikon poll of 12259 people in 12 European countries showed 46,8percent of the pictures taken by Europeans are posted on the web.

Britons are more reserved: only 33percent of their snaps are posted online and just 5,6percent of them take self-portraits. By contrast, 34,2percent of Russians take pictures of themselves, ahead of the Austrians on 24,9percent.

Russians also top the poll for taking intimate snaps of themselves, with Greeks not far behind.

"The photographs that many of us take, especially younger generations, are no longer kept safe within the family or personal album," said photography scholar Martin Lister.

"Now, once online, our photographs enter a semi-public space. Here it is not the family that is the consuming and viewing unit but extended peer groups and networks of loosely connected people."

Nikon and etiquette experts Debrett's offered this advice to those posting pictures: don't post embarrassing pictures of other people without their permission and don't endlessly post pictures of yourself - you'll come across as self-obsessed. - Reuters