I was recently at a conference with college students and during one session, I mentioned to my table that I google myself often. They looked at me bewildered. All of them- collegians and advisors alike. So I went on to explain that there are all sorts of creepy websites who troll cyberspace to seek out any and all info about you. Then they put it on their websites. So every few months, I google my name and find these creeper websites and then take the time to remove my information. It's not difficult but it does take time. You have to email the sites and request that your information is removed. But do note that it will be back up there again. So this is a never-ending process.
Most still looked at me with an "oh I feel so sorry for the crazy lady who thinks she is some big thing online" smirk. But then a few whipped out their smart phones and googled themselves. And proclaimed that they were all over the internet. Hello, I know, thankyouverymuch!
I just recently remembered that before blogging and Facebook, I used Myspace. So I went on there (had to have my password sent to me because it had been eons since my last visit) and just cancelled myself altogether. If you are not using something like that, please be sure to cancel it.
We are all just so exposed these days with all of the social media tools weaving in and out of our daily routines. It's fun to connect with friends globally at the speed of light (or speed of a slow blackberry that needed to be upgraded a year ago...whichever your case may be). But it's also important to be aware of how over-exposed we all are. A little nekkid sometimes!
Oh and if you are applying for any sort of job/school/program/organization/anything, lock your business down, girls! The very first thing that happens when your resume/application/name comes across any sort of desk-like object is a google and Facebook search. I promise this to be true!
So for those of y'all who don't stalk your own name...you might want to hop on board my crazy train. Just be prepared to be a little uneasy finding your life-long details on page after page.
XOXO,
The girl you only know via blogging. And sometimes Facebook. Oh and Twitter. Geeze...see the problem I've gotten myself into...
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11 comments:
Amen! I google myself on the regular, and the only thing that comes up is our wedding/engagement announcements. I figure that isn't harmful and I put it in the paper, so we're okay. But there is a TON of information about people floating out there and you never know when people are going to look for it! When we interviewed candidates for my academic program, some students were on Google like white on rice, looking for the scoop on applicants! Crazy!
Good advice!
you can also set up a google alert (http://www.google.com/alerts) for in between watching. It will email you whenever there is a new result for your search. Make the alert "First Last" in ""s and you won't get soo blasted with emails, though I guess there aren't that many Kirstin's out there so maybe you still will, hehe.
I google myself all the time (and have google alerts every time my name is written on the internet)... My grandmother just informed me that she googled me.
Thankfully, I'm very aware of my online identity and carefully patrol it!
Great post and words to live by. I google myself all the time. Good practice and a good way to keep yourself in control....as must as possible!
Always a good reminder. I was amazed how many people out there with my name there were.
Good idea. I'd never really thought about this, but it applies to everyone these days.
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I google myself. I found out that there is a "prophetess" with the same name as me. I don't even know what a "prophetess" is.
i love you for this... i should prob start googling myself more!
I am uber aware of this right now....I got so angry yesterday after reading a newspaper article about a woman that was shot and killed. None of her family would comment, so they pulled information from her theknot.com webpage from when she got married and her LinkedIn account too...a horrible situation and the newspaper is posting irrelevant things like "she posted that she liked red wine."
Oh my goodness this is something I think about a lot, especially since professionally my job requires me to be a bit more visible than I'd like to be.
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