>
Everyone has an opinion these days and there is just so much negative out there. Robert Downey Jr. loves Googling himself. At the Oscar roundtable this year, he said, “some people overstate their support, like they know you. Other people are busy doing something else and just want to go on this chat site and say some despicable character assassination…” If I were a celebrity I would be curious, but probably hesitant to search for myself. Ultimately, I think I would only sporadically search myself. The tabloids say some crazy stuff.
If you don’t Google yourself, someone else will – Reasons to Google yourself:
- Professionally: Companies should Google their own Web site to identify and monitor any potential information that shouldn’t be public.
- It is important to Google yourself before you start applying for jobs so that you know what your potential employee might see. Because let’s face it, there is a good chance that they’ll Google you.
- Personally: Never put anything personal, such as your social security number on a resume or on the Internet; not even temporarily. It is scary when you find your own very specific personal information coming up. I have a huge problem with websites that advertise my address, phone number, family information and other private information without my consent.
- Any information you find online, can also be found by hackers. We cannot take Google for granted. We search for anything and everything and so can the bad guys. Criminals can easily access our information with just a simple search. The internet is a playground for crooks.
- You might have filled out an online form and not realized the site was not as secured as it should be.
- There may be more of you out there, and he/she might have been in trouble with the law. Check out this crazy story about a guy wanted for murder.
- I read somewhere that you shouldn’t stop after the first few search pages. Look at page 6 for the juicy stuff. (That’s where I found my fellow Caryn with a felony charge.)
- If you find there are duplicate you’s – you can change your online persona from Bob Smith to Bob G. Smith to narrow the findings.
- Try changing your username, sometimes this will change your results.
- If you do find information about you on a Website you don’t control, contact the site owners to remove that data immediately.
- If the website will not remove it information, it is up to you to create and manage content on various other sites so that the undesired material will gradually fall lower and lower on the search results. But please note, this can be a slow process.
Love, Caryn