Vanity Search

[Bullgrit]

How big a presence does your real name have on the Web? A Google search for my real name brings up a lot of hits, but only 2 instances are actually me -- and they're both 10+ years old. I consider this a good thing, as I really don't want my name (or image) to be all over the Internet.

Do you want your name and image all over the Internet? Do you want to keep your name and image relatively private (off the Internet)? Do you not care one way or another?

Bullgrit

[Dorn_the_warrior]

Well, I've done that too. All that comes up for me is my facebook page. It turns out, though, that someone with the same name as me is a D.A. in Mississippi, and another one is a nature photographer and ecologist based in New York City. 2 different people, and I don't really have that common of a name. Crazy.

[freyar]

My first + last name combo is pretty popular (1.6 million links on google), though my first name shows up as a middle name a lot. I'm not first on the list, but I do have 4 of the first 10, including my current home page. Adding my middle initial does a little better -- it moves my stuff up, but it doesn't bump other people entirely off the first page.

Not sure exactly what I think about that. I don't have a huge amount of personal info there, mostly professional, so I do want that to be available.

[Wombat]

My problem is having a common-uncommon name.

In America, my name sounds very slightly unusual; in Scotland it is the equivalent of "John Smith". If I Google up my name ... I can't find me amongst all the almost mes...

[Lord Tirian]

Uh... Google gives me only a couple of pages... and the first page is all hits. That's what a very, very uncommon name gives me, seemingly.

Cheers, LT.

[EricNoah]

Let's see ... six of the first ten results on Google bring up me w/regard to D&D stuff I have participated in, and Facebook. I'm ok with that. It is weird that the #1 result is placeholder page at RPG Planet for a page that hasn't had a home there in 8 years!

[crazy_monkey1956]

I have to do the quote thing to get specific matches to my name, otherwise I get ten pages of Tarantino (same first name). Blech.

[ProfessorPain]

My print on the web is pretty small. But I don't worry about it. I figure the most employers can learn is I play D&D. If they don't want gamers in their organization, I don't want to be a part of it.

[MonkeyDragon]

The first few pages of my name don't turn up anything related to me.

Googling my comic name, however, turns up results that are mostly comic-related through the first few pages, and is the number one search result. That makes me smile big smiles.

[Goldmoon]

I am a freaking ghost on the net, just the way I like it.

[Plane Sailing]

Back in 1995 a search on my name would turn up my websites. Nowadays it returns 45 million + results and I'm nowhere to be seen. And I'm cool with that.

Cheers

[Aeson]

A search for my name comes up with some rapper in Michigan.

[Pbartender]

Originally Posted by Bullgrit

How big a presence does your real name have on the Web? A Google search for my real name brings up a lot of hits, but only 2 instances are actually me -- and they're both 10+ years old. I consider this a good thing, as I really don't want my name (or image) to be all over the Internet.

Do you want your name and image all over the Internet? Do you want to keep your name and image relatively private (off the Internet)? Do you not care one way or another?

My foot print is pretty small on the net, but I honestly don't worry about it too much.

It's a lot easier to get information on someone than most people think. For example, (and just to warn you) using only the information provided in your first post in this thread, it took about 30 seconds to find your name, your home address, your phone number, a map of your neighborhood, and a photo of your front yard.

If someone wants to find your information, they will and can. It's a better trick to make yourself seem not worth finding.

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Originally Posted by Pbartender

My foot print is pretty small on the net, but I honestly don't worry about it too much.

It's a lot easier to get information on someone than most people think. For example, (and just to warn you) using only the information provided in your first post in this thread, it took about 30 seconds to find your name, your home address, your phone number, a map of your neighborhood, and a photo of your front yard.

If someone wants to find your information, they will and can. It's a better trick to make yourself seem not worth finding.

Since I use my username very often, I almost suspect I am more likely to find something regarding me with that name than my real name. I keep my real name mostly out of it, though it is in my e-mail adresses, and I use it for websites where I have to use my real name. My real name isn't really uncommon in Germany, though, there are 483.000 hits on Google for it, and I doubt any of them is me.

Heck, I was even so paranoid to change my username on the Bundestag Petitition site so people can't easily correlate that username with my other online usernames and me.

[Bullgrit]

Email sent to Pbartender to find out how he did it.

Bullgrit