The advantages of having your name and certain "safe" information shown to the world is simply exposure. People who are searching for you can easily find you. Whether these people are good or bad plays into whether displaying your name in the first place was a risk or not. I don't think too many "bad" people are looking for me and am therefore not very concerned. Having your contact information on Google could help employers see your professional side and could even lead to them contacting you.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
I am Googleable
My personal view pertaining to Google posting information about me online is vastly different than the the perceived general consensus: I personally have no problem with it. I believe that every internet user should be careful enough not to enter any information into a public space that they wish not be seen by other people. Facebook is a prime example of this; what you post on facebook can be seen by a unbelievable amount of people. I have edited my facebook privacy settings so that the only way a stranger can see any of my information (minus my name, location, and picture), is by first be-friending me. As for my name appearing in a google search, the only time this occurs is through my "linked-in" account and for a tennis tournament I won. Google showing these things does not concern me. If Google where to show any other private information (other than my name itself), this would concern me but because Google allows you to control this feature I have nothing to worry about.... at least for now.
I find it interesting that you have a slightly different view on Google searches than many people. You seem to have a much deeper knowledge of the internet and privacy settings than the general population. I, too, have edited my Facebook settings so as not to be found on search engines, but I am sure that many people do not know this is even an option. I'm very interested in how you can adjust searchability on Google, as you have referenced, and if this is actually possible. Overall, you really give internet users a lot to think about in relation to information posted about them online. It is rather scary how Google could change their policies to impact what information could be found more readily in the future.
ReplyDeleteClearly your perception of being googleable was much different from the perceptions most of the class had. As a result, I found it to be pretty beneficial in evaluating my own stance. I wrote in my post about the popular perception that being found on search engines is scary and an invasion of privacy. I didn't know that there were ways to ways to limit the results google displays. Also, I think you made a very rational claim by saying that there probably aren't "bad" people looking for information about you. Most people, even those with more information available on the web than you, probably aren't targets at all. Even by having information like a phone number on the web, it's difficult to see any negative consequences with a strong likelihood of occurring.
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