Do you Google You?

Sharon McKnight SPHR

There is an interesting article, [I]Most People Google Themselves Now[/I], on the NY Times website about people who Google themselves and why they do so. A couple of tidbits from the article:

[LIST]
[*]Adults with online profiles have more than doubled, going from 20 percent in 2006 to 46 percent in 2009.
[*]27 percent work for an employer that has rules about how employees present themselves online, up from 22 percent in 2006.
[/LIST]

If you're interested, you can find the article at:[URL="http://www.livescience.com/culture/online-identity-internet-search-100526.html"] http://www.livescience.com/culture/online-identity-internet-search-100526.html[/URL]

Sharon

NaeNae55

I have Google set up to notify me if my name, or my company's name, comes up. If someone is badmouthing me or the organization online I want to know about it.

Every once in awhile I Google myself. I also Google relatives who have passed away in the last few years. I think it is important to monitor the internet to protect ourselves or our family members from those who abuse it.

cnghr

I've Googled myself several times in the past, but I don't seem to have as much of a Google presence as many people, largely I think because I don't do any of the social networking sites.

I happen to share my name with a Canadian artist of some repute and she has far more listings than me. The only ones I've found that are actually about the real me are my company's website, and an online support site for people who are also survivors of the medical crisis that I nearly died of some years ago.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Googling yourself? Snicker...

Sharon McKnight SPHR

[quote=Paul in Cannon Beach;719955]Googling yourself? Snicker...[/quote]


Let's see. The last time I Googled myself I found that there are a lot of folks with the same name out there. Some famous, sort of, but mostly not. When I was in high school, there was another student, a year behind me, with the same name. She had a perfect reputation and I was a hippy when it wasn't cool to be a hippy in high school. She kept doing things that were not so perfect in the eyes of the school administrators and I kept getting blamed for them. No fun for me.

Sharon

Celeste Blackburn SPHR

My post today on the Technology for HR blog is about companies that will monitor and fix your Internet reputation (to read it go to [URL]http://bit.ly/9N7tRS[/URL]).

Has anyone ever used this sort of service?

Nae, you seem to be on top of monitoring Google. Have you ever found something about you, your company, or your relatives that was wrong or even offensive?

ACU Frank

I also have Google Alerts set up, but I haven't been surprised by anything I've found. 90% of it is marketing stuff we created, of course.

NaeNae55

I have been surprised by some of the places we show up (mostly blogs I have never heard of), but there was nothing that made me think we needed to take action.

I also watch my name and user names. The only user name I ever have had show up is the one I use here. I get a lot of alerts for it.

It's nice to know there is a service out there that can help us if something goes wrong and our name starts showing up inappropriately.