Wow! I expected to find stuff about me when I did this search. But, I must say: I was completely underwhelmed!!! As much as I am online, and as many accounts as I have on various services, etc. I would have expected to find a whole lot more than I did. But, what DID surprise me was how many OTHER people I found who share my name or some variation of it. My first name, no surprise. But, my last name is pretty surprising. And, when I find no less than 7 other people with both my first and last name I am almost speechless.
If anyone goes and searches my name, please take note that very little of what comes up of the 1,220 results on Google is actually about me. In fact, I had to scroll pretty far down the page to find more than one or two things that were actually my own. And, there are some of those things that come up and appear to be mine, but in actuality are not. There was even a Google+ account that looked exactly like mine, but that I know is not mine because it includes games with Google sign-in and Vudu link. I don't play games on social media (anymore) and I don't follow Vudu. And, there are several things that I DO have accounts on that did not show up on my search. One of the most recent of those is PowToons. I have an account and have signed in to it within the last year, but it did not show up on my search.
On the image search: Only 3 images of all the one that came up were actually mine or attached to one of my accounts. And, one of those was an avatar I created for another ETEC class.
Amazingly, under "Videos" it was ALL my own stuff. And, luckily all "News" results were NOT about me. But, that doesn't mean someone might not pull up some of those and mistakenly think they had found some dirty little secret. But, I have alibis for all of them, luck me ;)
One thing that this exercise has re-enforced for me is: Be VERY careful what you do and/or post because it is out there for anyone to find. And, it is amazingly easy to find it all. Of course, I already have most of my accounts set to as private settings as I can manage and still be able to use it for what I need/want to use it for. And, I have always been a pretty private person, so I have not and will not post anything that I wouldn't want others to see. My "safe mantra" is: If you wouldn't Granny or Mom to see, DO NOT POST IT! So far, it has been working for me.
