A CHEEKY dance in the rain, snapped and posted on Facebook, has brought more attention to James Rogers's backside than ever before.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The young farmer, who runs a property near Cobar in western NSW, was so happy for the skies to open up last Friday he stripped off, donned his hat and headed outside.
James's partner, Jody Fraser, snapped a shot of him celebrating the rain in the buff and posted it on Facebook, including prominent rural photography page Station Photos, which is dedicated to sharing shots of rural life, taken by people on the land, and has more than 40,000 likes.
That was it. The photo went viral. And everyone loved it - or so it seemed.
Facebook users started reporting the image for graphic content or nudity, causing the photo to be removed from the social network and Station Photos, as well as many of those who shared or reposted the photo, to be issued a warning and even banned for 24 hours.
Mr Rogers, 22, was astounded.
"I couldn't believe it... it was just a harmless joke and it kept going," he said.
"There's much worse things on Facebook than that."
Ms Fraser said perhaps those who hit the 'report' button did not understand just how difficult life without water was.
"We didn't expect it to go as far as it did, but now that it has, if it can help out other people that are worse off than us, it's a good thing," Ms Fraser said.
"We haven't had as near as tough as some of the people up in Queensland, but we've had dams dry up and you go around every day pulling sheep out of the bog."
Facebook guidelines state that it imposes limitations on the display of nudity, but it aspired to "respect people's right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo's David or family photos of a child breastfeeding".
Meanwhile, Facebook users are protesting the ban by re-uploading the photo and making it their profile picture. The result has meant many of them are themselves being reported.
The outrage at the ban is so widespread that a Change.org petition has even been initiated, calling for Facebook to "bring back the naked farmer".
As for Mr Rogers, his bottom's rough ride through Facebook will not stop him from celebrating future rainfall any way he likes.
"I've done it all my life, pretty much, my mother can vouch for that... every time it rained, me and my brother would be flat out running around in the rain and playing," he said.