More Google Good To Know
Have You Checked Your Facebook Apps Recently?
How Googly Are You?
Teaching Awareness of Digital FootprintsDo You Google Yourself?
When was the last time you Googled your self? What did you find? Would you want an employer to see it? Would you want a student or their parents to see it? As educators your digital footprint is extremely important. Your online presents is available to anyone. Some forms of social media have safeguards so that we can keep people out. Others, like Twitter and Pintrest, are open so any member can see your activity. So that Tweet about the party you went to the other night anyone on Twitter can see that. Not only is it important for you to build a positive footprint it is important for our students to build a positive footprint. Below are somel links that will give you more information about the importance of your digital footprint. Read the post below and find one other article about digital footprints. Post your thoughts about digital footprints and the link to the article you read.
More Google Good To Know Have You Checked Your Facebook Apps Recently? How Googly Are You? Teaching Awareness of Digital FootprintsDo You Google Yourself?
59 Comments
George Pincock
1/22/2012 11:27:47 pm
I remember being in High School and googling my own name or a name of a friend. Back then I thought it was all fun, but now I know that a person's digital footprint is more important then I originally thought. The fact that a digital footprint is permanent and accessible to everyone is a bit scary, yet it is good motivation to teacher kids, and even yourself to use the internet and other media wisely. Just remember everything is being monitored: search engines, gaming sites, social media sites, news sites.. its everything!
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Ryan Mansfield
1/23/2012 02:54:06 am
The use of some of the info used in the hiring process to me personally has almost gotten out of control. In at least today's hiring processes, it seems like a person has a very difficult time if he/she is not web or tech savy. I know me personally, some of the jobs that I have applied for in the past I have never actually talked to a real person. The only thing that was looked at was a resume. Now some of that had to do with not having a masters degree which at the college level is understood, but at the same time if you never actually talk to a person or have an interview, how do you expect to know what type of person you are hiring, how they dress, how they present themselves or how they express themselves on a personal level. The bad side to this is that this process is not getting any easier especially with technology and the speed at which it is moving. In lets say the next 5 to 10 years, will you even have to send in a resume or will your entire history simply be on google and all your employer has to do is pull it up to see if you are the right person for the job, all without ever talking to you in person or talking to a reference.
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casey costa
1/23/2012 08:09:44 am
it's strange thinking that every little thing online can be traced back to you years down the road. i see so many people in college posting party pics and such on FB and I know they feel that it's all fun now like you were saying, but it could hurt when trying to get a job.
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Christopher Sandefur
1/23/2012 10:40:11 pm
George-One key word that you used was permanent. It is important to understand what you say online is public to others. This information can be used against you.
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Popi Stevens
1/25/2012 02:39:04 am
I agree with the statement that it is important to portray yourself in a positive light. Because now days your facebook/myspace can cost someone a job.
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Jeremy Esry
1/29/2012 01:37:30 am
Popi you are right, I have heard of it costing many people jobs and have even heard that it cost a faculty member at CMU their job as they were posting negitive things on Facebook. One has to be very careful in what they say cause you never know who is reading it.
Cara Barth-Fagan
1/29/2012 06:44:23 am
George,
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Ryan Mansfield
1/23/2012 02:46:33 am
This is one aspect of the technology side of things that is often forgotten about. Personally, I do not have a facebook account, myspace or other accounts of this nature for the simple reason that it is no one elses business what I am doing. On the flip side of that equation, I know alot of college administrators and school officials who check the sites in order to see who they are hiring and also to check on students. I am not sure that school administrators need to be checking up on students and what they are doing off campus but that is the society in which we live in. In addition coming from the baseball side of things, I know that most scouts now use facebook to keep track of the kids that they are interested in signing. There have been several kids that I have called in to scouts to have them watch and before even going and watching gams, the scouts will sit down and check out their facebook accounts to see what type of people they are and their current activities.
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casey costa
1/23/2012 08:12:03 am
I agree that privacy is very important and is becoming harder to come by now with all of these social Medias being used on a daily basis. I know in my undergrad one of my professors found me on FB and looked at my information without me knowing it and brought it up to me and I was slightly concerned by it. Now I keep everything private so only friends can know anything about me.
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George Pincock
1/23/2012 10:26:18 am
I was just like you for the longest time. I never wanted to have a facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. I figured that if I wanted to keep in touch with you an email or phone number would be good enough. However, I've crumbled and now have a facebook account. I pretty much just assume that every one has access to it and can see everything on it. I've never used facebook or any of the other social media sites as I have recruited kids. I think it could be valuable in many ways but I would so much rather get to know the kid. We live in a world of declining social skills. If a kid only wants to talk with me through text or instant message, I am not really interested in him/her. I know it sounds bad but a kid needs social skills to be successful a sports... I can't text a kid feed back at practice. The bigger the digital footprint the less likely I am to be interested in the kid.
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Christopher Sandefur
1/23/2012 10:38:02 pm
Ryan-I will admit that I don't use social media sites for checking character of recruits. It could be a useful tool but I have not incorporated that source. I understand you thoughts on not having one. I try to keep my accounts private to others.
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Kelli Miller
1/24/2012 11:43:25 am
I, too, like to search for the recruits we're interested in bringing to CMU. There's nothing worse than signing an athlete and finding out a little too late that he/she is cancerous to the team or brings with him/her a negative mental game to the sport for which they play.
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Popi Stevens
1/25/2012 02:43:46 am
I do not have a facebook page either. I think a lot of it comes down to privacy and how you want to portray yourself. I never wanted to portray myself as unproffesional or get myself in trouble so it was just a personal desicion. I think people can have and enjoy facebook without being unproffesional though. They just have to be concious and be careful.
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Robert Thomas
1/29/2012 03:11:54 am
It is very important what you put on the internet of yourself. Like many have said before what is online is permanent. You can not take it down. Pictures on facebook or anyother type of social media can have negative impacts on your future job. Even with athletes and what they say on twitter has got them fines for saying things on the internet.
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Prof. Myers
1/23/2012 04:15:50 am
I was listening to NPR this morning on the way to work at the short local new cast brought up a story that goes with the topic nicely. Below is a link to a PDF from MU/Tribune and KBIA. The story that is relevant starts at the 5:30 mark on the recording.
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Cara Barth-Fagan
1/29/2012 06:59:50 am
I tried the link you shared with us but it wasn't working. (4:45 p.m. 1/29, 2011). I was hoping to catch it to listen.
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Heather Kirkendoll
1/23/2012 06:04:57 am
Digital footprints are an unescapable fact of life now. I am not too scared of it, because I know to keep it completely professional. One thing I do get scared of is friends posting pictures of me. I have asked friends to take down a couple pictures, solely for the fact of what beverage may be in my hand. You can never be too careful when it comes to facebook. I have my security up pretty high, but I did google myself and saw my profile picture. Nothing to be scared of there. The only other information I saw from me was my classjump page and things from our school website. As far as teaching the kids about how to keep it appropriate, the teachers try to relay that message, but sometimes it's falling on deaf ears. I think it can be filed in the thought of "that won't happen to me" for some, and the living in the present and not thinking about the future for some students. I hope it doesn't hurt them to bad. I read Google Good to Know. I have been lucky enough to be educated in a lot of what they were warning about in terms of security, but I do always worry about my mom and dad, or sometimes even my husband. That they may be tricked by phony emails and such.
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George Pincock
1/23/2012 10:59:38 am
I've heard a lot of stories about parents/grandparents being tricked by phoney emails and such. I know a lot of the older generation is turning to facebook to stay in touch with their grandchildren. Any message that relates to their grandchildren and their grand child's safety instantly sucks a grandparent into a trap. I think we all owe it to our family and especially our grandparents to educate them about internet safety and security.
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Nick Camp
1/24/2012 12:36:34 am
George, to kind of add on to what you have "blogged". I know there is still quite a bit of scams sent via email with catchy phrases such as " You have been selected for our 1 million dollar grand prize". Now if you can simply give us your social security number, bank info, and first and last name we can disperse the funds into your savings account. You may laugh at the thought of someone falling for this scam but I guarantee you they wouldn't be attempting it if it wasn't successful at one point in time.
Stacy Crommie
1/25/2012 03:09:36 am
I believe you are right that we need to make our elderly aware of phoney emails. We also need to teach our children the importance of not only what they put on the net about themselves but also of the dangers of not keeping their login information secret. I know from experience at one high school that a young lady was hacked by a fellow student and the hacker put nasty things about her on her facebook.
Matthew Clanahan
1/29/2012 04:34:21 am
This is a huge deal, especially with elderly people, as you've mentioned. My grandmother regularly receives spam/scam emails and phone calls. Fortunately, she's sharp enough to not give out information such as SSN, bank account, etc. But I'm sure there are many elderly people who are much more trusting and, dare I say, gullible. I used to think that putting an elderly person behind the wheel of a car was dangerous; now, putting them behind a keyboard can be just as damaging. How can we educate our grandparents to avoid these digital pitfalls?
Ryan Mansfield
1/23/2012 11:16:41 pm
This is a good point we need to keep in mind. It may not be our accounts where pictures and stories may be posted but those of our friends and people that we associate with. Most everybody in today's world has a facebook or twitter and a camera on their phone. Even if you are not posting info about yourself, there is a good chance that someone else is posting info about you on their site good or bad. The newest idea out on the market is an online service that basically puts out positive news or information on you or your company in an attempt to counter any negative info that may be published.
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Audrey Crabtree
1/25/2012 06:45:37 am
Ryan- This is another problem with the internet, anyone can post something and it could be right or wrong. We sometimes forget what a real credible source is and can misjudge information we see. Its sad that we have to have countering websites to put down information from one or the other.
Elyce Lamphere
1/26/2012 10:44:32 pm
Ryan,
Casey Costa
1/23/2012 08:26:55 am
I just googled myself because I've never done it before and couldn't find much. I found out that my beginning futbol club put what college I signed with, my undergrad school has my accomplishments and that's about it. I'm fine with an employer finding these things, because there's nothing negative and I wouldn't put anything on the internet that I wouldn't want someone I didn't know to find out about me. With so many different social medias being used on a daily basis I think it's very important for all ages to watch what they put online since once it's there it's always there.
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Cara Barth-Fagan
1/29/2012 07:07:38 am
Casey,
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Melea Shimkus
1/29/2012 10:30:51 am
I recently just googled myself for the first time as well. I was not surprised, or embarrassed by what I found. But like you, I watch what I do online and I think it is important for everyone to do the same. Everything that happens online is a digital recording that will never go away. So we need to be careful about what we do.
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1/23/2012 10:32:46 pm
If you Google my name you will find a lot of my running results. My Facebook page link appears but it will do you know good. I have my page blocked from non-friends. I am a college coach and find it important to keep my personal life personal. I have nothing on there that I am ashamed of but I found it important to keep this private. I believe if my employers Google my name they would find my athletic results. This could be a good thing for me.
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Cara Barth-Fagan
1/29/2012 07:13:47 am
Christopher,
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Nick Camp
1/24/2012 12:31:02 am
In the professional world the digital footprint makes or breaks a lot of people. I have many friends that have recently taken jobs either teaching high school or coaching some sport, we have all discussed the importance of making sure our digital footprint is "clean". I myself try to keep my personal life to myself as I know the consequences if I happen to "slip up". As Coach Sandefur stated, sometimes your digital footprint can be beneficial if you have positive things posted about yourself.
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Ryan Mansfield
1/24/2012 11:03:17 am
What if someone does have a slip up? Does this mean that their life if over for good? I know technology does have it's upside but are we really ready to turn our lives over to technology?
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Thomas Buehler
1/26/2012 01:14:40 am
Nick,
Jeremy Esry
1/29/2012 01:45:27 am
Those are two real good questions, Hopefully the potential employeer is smart enough to look past a minor slip up or something of that nature and it really is scary to see how much we depend on technology for everything in our lives.
Robert Thomas
1/29/2012 03:18:56 am
I think everyone will slip up eventually. It might not cost them their job but it could cause distruption within the workplace or the team. We have to be smart with what we read and believe when something is posted about someone or something. With all the different media outlets there are today you need to think things through before you do or say them
Thomas Buehler
1/29/2012 09:39:04 am
Esry,
Stacy Crommie
1/24/2012 03:32:16 am
This is the first time I Googled myself and was surprised about how much was stated but was relieved to find no negativities. I believe a digital footprint is very important. It is like the reputation you uphold in a community. Everyone knows your business but dirty laundry should not be aired. I have recently encountered an argument carried over Facebook between a husband and wife, which happen to be friends of mine and my kids. I am proud to say one of my kids told them not to air their dirty laundry over the web. One of the couple retorted negatively. My son simply told him that he was not meaning to be rude. He was simply warning both of them that their statements can become permanent and be used against them in their future endeavors. It is very simple. If you do not want certain things about you known, don’t advertise them.
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Kelli Miller
1/24/2012 11:31:52 am
Stacy,
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Melea Shimkus
1/29/2012 10:43:40 am
Footprints are all over the internet whether we want them to be or not. My parents are always reminding me to be careful about how much information and what I say on the internet. I agree that some people put way too much of their "dirty laundry," as you say, on the internet for everyone to see. And you said your kid was the one that told them to behave themselves, that means other kids could have seen that information as well.
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Kelli Miller
1/24/2012 11:21:39 am
I must admit, I used to google myself (when Google was just starting) and I found athletes with the same name and spelling in other parts of the country. I was in awe; however, I did have an inkling in the back of my mind that these athletes could be lumped in with my name and background. Could family, future employers, students, co-workers, etc...look up my name and see other peoples' digital footprint?
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Audrey Crabtree
1/25/2012 06:50:25 am
I have also googled myself and found things of little interest about me. It was mostly about other people who had the same name as I so I wonder what people would think if they were searching for me. It is very interesting though.
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Popi Stevens
1/25/2012 02:33:50 am
The one time i googled myself was my junior year of college because a friend of mine (in hawaii) said they read a neat article about me (football related). It is crazy how much info/pictures of ourselves are available to the general public with one click of a button. It could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what pops up. With google a person's life can be shown (even if its not reality).
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Stacy Crommie
1/25/2012 03:19:06 am
Popi - Good point on the end there. In reality if someone wants to really ruin your life they can by smudging your digital footprint even if it is not true. In a way, that is very disturbing. Then once the lies are told, what can be done about it. I looked up different sites about it and one said you can litigate a civil action against the person like "slander" or "invasion of privacy."
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Melea Shimkus
1/25/2012 04:35:17 am
I've always been conscience of what I comment on or write on social media sites. But I don't have control over what other people post on or write on any internet site. I also don't have control over articles that involve my various accomplishments. I actually just Googled myself for the first time, and was not really surprised by what I found. People can find out a lot of information about you, whether you want them to or not. I would rather not have that much information about myself readily available to the public, but with all of the technology accessible it is difficult to keep any information private. Something that I did not give much thought to, was that people can look up all of my previous searches on the internet. That means the public can find everything I have ever researched for papers, every youtube video I've watched, and how many times I've logged onto facebook. I feel like no information is private anymore because our society is so technologically orientated. My parents still remind that everything on the internet is permanent and can be found by almost anybody. Even though I know this is true, I still find it a bit scary about the amount of information that is out there.
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Heather Kirkendoll
1/25/2012 07:35:41 am
I agree things can be scary with all the available information. For example, our number isn't in the phone book, and I actually like that. My husband and I both teach, and it just feels safer kids not knowing too much about us. But in my google search, and I saw our address and even where we previously lived. Who knows what other info could be found with a little more digging.
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Matthew Clanahan
1/25/2012 04:53:49 am
I read "How Googly Are You" (http://goo.gl/aHzzO) ... I've been well aware of my rather large digital footprint for quite sometime. I've been interested in web design (and technology, obviously) since I was very young. A quick Google search for my name will bring up many results, including social networks I use, websites I have designed, articles I'm mentioned in, etc. On the other hand, doing a Google image search for my name will bring up pictures of me AND several of my friends; additionally, you will find random pictures completely unassociated with me such as Rue McClanahan (Golden Girls actress with a similar last name) and Osama bin Laden (entirely random).
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Cara Barth-Fagan
1/25/2012 05:00:15 am
I have been “Google”-ing myself for some time now. I want to know what others see when they Google me. I have always found little to no information about myself, or at least the information that I did find was not very interesting to me and would not really be interesting to others. There would not be much information to gain by potential employers either. I found my work telephone directory, a couple of articles where my name was mentioned and a few websites that track my previous/current addresses. I always tell my students (future potential educators) to watch what they post on the web. Its public domain for others to search through sites such as Facebook and it is the first place that employers go if they want to get a feel for future employees’ actions. I have a student in my class now who stated that one of his hobbies was drinking alcohol. I told him to be careful doing that and to be sure, he did not drive when he was drinking, for fear of what might happen. He responded with “I’m usually too drunk to find my keys anyway”. I was taken aback because he wants to be a 4th grade teacher. I can only imagine what types of photos he is posting on Facebook. I encouraged the entire class to make good decisions and reminded them that their past can come back to haunt them, and might cost them their jobs. I liked the articles that were shared with us to read. One piece that really struck a chord with me is that teenagers do not “see into the future”, meaning they do not recognize that what they post online is out there for others to see. In a few short clicks of a mouse, they can upload a photo of themselves and do not think twice about what they were wearing or holding. They do not realize that will be out there permanently.
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Heather Kirkendoll
1/25/2012 07:45:21 am
I did wonder about the email request when posting. Also, I completely agree with youth not thinking about the future consequences of their posts. I feel for them, the poor things don't have the frontal lobes of their brains developed enough to realize some of their actions are not such a good idea.
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Robert Thomas
1/29/2012 03:22:50 am
I have googled myself as well my name is very common. most of all the searches go to Rob Thomas from Match Box 20. One of my favorite sayings is no news is good news. This can be very true for many different situations in life.
Stephanie Armiger
1/25/2012 10:12:30 am
Thank you for sharing the interactive lesson that helps you explore your digital footprint. I think it is a really good lesson to share with your students. I went through the scenario and had my daughter try it too. I think this lesson would be good to use with people of all ages.
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Matthew Clanahan
1/29/2012 04:29:54 am
That interactive lesson was quite enlightening, although I feel it's a bit on the paranoid side. For example, when I went through it, it mentioned cameras in a parking garage. I don't park in a parking garage, and although we use CCTV, I feel that is a necessary evil. Not all technology mentioned was necessarily being used in the ways that the lesson said. However, it is mind-boggling how much information can be collected from such minor interactions.
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Elyce Lamphere
1/25/2012 05:46:43 am
The thought of how open and available information can be on the internet at first is a good thing. I know when I first used the internet I just thought it was cool, how I could access so much information so easily. However, now when I realize the "cool" quick information you can get, can be about me. That idea is not so appealing. Graduating from college and being a well represented professional, is important in my life. I am now, more aware of my digital footprint. Not only from this article, but classes I have had in the past about technology. I want my digital footprint to represent me the best that it can.
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Jeremy Esry
1/29/2012 01:23:07 am
Elyce - thanks for the link and I couldn't agree more with your statements. Sometimes I too get caught up in something on the internet that I think is "cool" and start to fill out information on myself before catching it and realizing that it is probably not the best thing to do.
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Audrey Crabtree
1/25/2012 06:40:29 am
The whole digital footprint is new to me and I am very glad we got this topic to discuss. I personally am glad that I treated everything on the internet with caution. My parents were always big on being smart with the internet and it helped tremendously at the time and even now in the future. I also choose to do things later than most so I could gain knowledge about the new fad at the time. Facebook was a big jump for lots of people and a lot of people went a little crazy when they first got it. I was glad to be informed that the apps I added in Facebook can cause my digital footprint to change. I want my digital footprint to show anything negative about and I believe that I have taken all the right steps to insure that.
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Stephanie Armiger
1/25/2012 08:18:33 am
I googled my name, which I have not done so in a while, and the first thing that appeared was a background search. I clicked on the initial search which shows some of my immediate family members, but it also shows that I am related to persons that I have no relation to. It also shows my alias names listed as my married and maiden name spelled correctly, however, it as shows an incorrect spelling of my maiden name. The incorrect spelling of my last name may be part of the reason for the listing of the totally unrelated member of my household under my name. I also found a long forgotten MySpace account that my kids created for me a few years ago, when they wanted to create MySpace accounts, which they never use now because they use Facebook; hence the reason I now use Facebook regularly.
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Thomas Buehler
1/26/2012 01:06:31 am
I read the link about how Google call pull up different types of information about you. Most of the information that would be derived about me is social networking information. I'm always aware of what I'm putting up on facebook and twitter. I'm already being followed and friended by several faculty members and peers on Twitter and Facebook. I never realized that people could access personal information about me on Google just by search my name. Lucky for me there are several Thomas Buehlers in the world. I found one who was a Ph. D so I'm going to make him my alter ego in case I get into a bind. I went through a Facebook check when I started applying for Grad School. I feel like this is something that most all Facebook users do when applying for a job. I went through and switched my privacy settings so that only my friends could view my activity, pictures, and postings. I also deleted all pictures that would be considered inappropriate by an employer. Throughout undergrad I witnessed at least 4 acts of Facebook indiscretion that either got athletes suspended or kicked off their current sports team. People need to realize that even though now they are not concerned with who is seeing their activity, pretty soon people will be taking note and they can always back track through your history.
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Elyce Lamphere
1/26/2012 10:50:38 pm
Tom-
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Stephanie Armiger
1/28/2012 01:18:16 pm
That is neat Tom that you found several people with your name, and kind of impressive if someone sees the one with the PhD , doesn't sound too bad. I only found one other person on the search that had my name and she writes children's books. So, I guess I could try to use "author" as my back up plan, but I don't think that would work because I am a Math teacher (and definitely not an English major).
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Jeremy Esry
1/29/2012 01:34:57 am
Whenever I am bored I will Google myself or some of my friends just to see what pops up. I always find it interesting to see what comes up, although I have never been able to find any dirt or bad things on my friends (unfortunatly). The links about Google and how they pull up information about someone was really interesting. Whenever a coach or someone recommends a prospective athlete to me one of the first things I do is Google them to see if they would be a good representative of CMU. Sometimes it is crazy what you will find on there, I have seen things where people have been arrested before or read article where they have gotten in trouble at school for bad attitudes but most of the things on there are usually good. There have been many times on there when I searched for an athlete and newspapers articles about them helping out in the community or being a good teammate have popped up. I believe that this helps start our recruiting process to where we can be more confident that when we call them we are going after a high character person. On another not, I too went through Facebook when applying for jobs to clean up some of the pictures from my college days. I believe that no matter what social media site you are on it is important to act professional and in a way that you would be proud of. Digital footprinting is not going anwhere and is probably only going to get more indepth in the future.
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Jeremy Esry
1/29/2012 01:42:44 am
I forgot to inlcude the link to the article I read but here it is...
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