NEW YORK (AP) — Matching mullets, regrettable tattoos, metal mouths and goofy grins.

Such long-lost looks were never meant to be seen by anyone except those flipping through the pages of an old family album or studying the photo frames on the fireplace mantel.

But now, Americans who grew up long before the Internet opened private lives to the world are digging up dusty boxes for photos to share on Facebook and other sites — sometimes to the chagrin of family members and schoolmates appearing in group shots.

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Online photos also have the "potential to hang around," getting copied and redistributed such that deleting your original might do little to erase the embarrassment, said Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

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