6 ms·

THIS. I have a unique last name - there is absolutely no ambiguity whenever anything shows up. Whenever a website (or anything offline that might put rankings

by Alex_MJ 13y ago

THIS. I have a unique last name - there is absolutely no ambiguity whenever anything shows up. Whenever a website (or anything offline that might put rankings or whatever online) wants me to use my real name, I usually default to "Alex", "Alex M/MJ" or "Alex (gibberish)" depending on their guidelines. What they view as a policy that "encourages openness", I view as something that will guide first impressions when people google me unto eternity. Even if it's not controversial, it's the first thing a potential client or employer sees when they type things into google, and I don't want to be reckless with that. I don't want to have to view every minor action that I make on a website as something that's potentially going to be on the front page of google's results for my name. When I was in HS, my friends had a poker league, and we all had nicknames and personas - someone put up a page with hilarious (but decidedly unprofessional) caricatures and quotes and it was the first thing that showed up under my name. I noticed it and asked my friend to change it, which he though was hilarious but understood and did. Same for Meetup. A long time ago I went to some meetups that could potentially be alienating to some folks (agnostics and whatever, way back in the day when I felt it was worth arguing about) and BOOM, google front page for my name. If I had a client who was somewhat religious, I don't care at all but I don't want that to show up and all of a sudden I'm accidentally alienating people. For showing up to something. Whenever I run a 5k or do anything remotely prestigious I always use my full name so that the front page of google just gets filled with that kind of thing in case anything else that's potentially a liability pops up and I don't notice it. It's annoying.

CWuestefeld 13y ago
I also have a very unique name. BOOM, google front page for my name Trying to fly under the radar, as you do, may be some solution, but it makes the mistakes like this one stick out even more boldly. I've found that over the years, there's enough of a heap on the web that matches my name, that garbage like you mention is overwhelmed by the more meaningful stuff. A search for me typically turns up my LinkedIn profile, the product page on Amazon for a book I co-authored, some CodeProject articles, and stuff like that. Just having a life's worth of stuff out there lets a smart search engine ignore much of the stuff that I'd want them to ignore.
SomeCallMeTim 13y ago
I am absolutely delighted that my name is sufficiently unique (and my online presence sufficiently diverse) that the entire first page of Google results that shows up is me. >I don't want to have to view every minor action that I make on a website as something that's potentially going to be on the front page of google's results for my name. It's true that I try to make every post to the Internet be something that I wouldn't worry about showing up in such a search. But as a result, when people find me, they do have a lot of real data about me -- and I get job offers and consulting offers all the time. I do not think it's a bad thing to be able to be Googled; what's a bad thing is to let yourself be a jerk online -- and it's important to Google yourself from time to time to see if something like your friend's page is showing up. The Meetup point is a good one, though. It would be nice to be able to (optionally) conceal your presence in a Meetup. Be it related to atheism or religion or sexual orientation or recovering alcoholism or even stamp collecting or trainspotting, there are a lot of groups that one might want to join that they wouldn't necessarily want to shout about to everyone. And that's not the fault of having a unique name -- anyone in any Meetup group that I'm in will certainly be able to "out" me as a member of any other Meetup group that I'm a member of, even if I'm named John Smith. And it's entirely likely that I'll share professional Meetup groups with potential employers.
- kubiiii 13y ago
  If you have nothing to hide it's fine. Well it's not. Stalkers and bullies love to find informations wether it's shameful or not. It makes their task easier.
  - derefr 13y ago
    This argument proves too much. Living your life normally, in general, helps stalkers and bullies. The only thing that doesn't "help" them (in one way) is making your own life more difficult for their sake... which "helps" them more directly, by making them feel acknowledged and dominant. People should not have to compensate for the actions of broken people. Celebrities know how to be functional in this situation: share everything, and get restraining orders.
vdaniuk 13y ago
Hey, actually if you ready to spend some time, there is a way to solve your problem. The algorithm is simple -- add noise. Create multiple virtual identities with first/last name. Then instantiate these identities in social networks, forums, mailing lists, etc. Link corresponding accounts together to raise their search ranking. Bam! You're not longer visible on first page of google search results. While security through obscurity wont work against a sophisticated opponent, its enough to prevent casual snooping.
sliverstorm 13y ago
Same boat, my name is 100% distinct, and while I don't know if it ever has or will cause me problems, it is mildly unsettling to search Google.
Crito 13y ago
I have a friend who has the dubious honor of sharing a name with a convicted murderer who was executed in Texas a few years ago. I asked him about how he thinks that has effected him. His take is that although it might turn off some brain-dead HR people, since there is no actual ambiguity (he surely is not an executed person) it hasn't negatively impacted him too much but it does push all the relevant links off the first few google results pages unless he actively does SEO stuff to correct it. He asserts that it gives him a good deal of control over what google shows for his name. I've taken a similar approach to online pseudonyms. Any work that I don't intend to be attached to my 'meatspace' identity is done under names that will return irrelevant results when googled, making it difficult to find my other accounts that may have the same pseudonym on other sites.
brewdad 13y ago
I have a very uncommon last name and relatively uncommon first name. Still, there are three people on the internet with my name. We're all within two years of each other in age. One even lives in the state I grew up in. Put us all together and there's not a demographic we can't offend in some way.
brador 13y ago
Why not use it to your advantage? Preseed awesome profiles with your Googleable name.

by Alex_MJ 13y ago

CWuestefeld 13y ago

I also have a very unique name. BOOM, google front page for my name Trying to fly under the radar, as you do, may be some solution, but it makes the mistakes like this one stick out even more boldly. I've found that over the years, there's enough of a heap on the web that matches my name, that garbage like you mention is overwhelmed by the more meaningful stuff. A search for me typically turns up my LinkedIn profile, the product page on Amazon for a book I co-authored, some CodeProject articles, and stuff like that. Just having a life's worth of stuff out there lets a smart search engine ignore much of the stuff that I'd want them to ignore.

SomeCallMeTim 13y ago

I am absolutely delighted that my name is sufficiently unique (and my online presence sufficiently diverse) that the entire first page of Google results that shows up is me. >I don't want to have to view every minor action that I make on a website as something that's potentially going to be on the front page of google's results for my name. It's true that I try to make every post to the Internet be something that I wouldn't worry about showing up in such a search. But as a result, when people find me, they do have a lot of real data about me -- and I get job offers and consulting offers all the time. I do not think it's a bad thing to be able to be Googled; what's a bad thing is to let yourself be a jerk online -- and it's important to Google yourself from time to time to see if something like your friend's page is showing up. The Meetup point is a good one, though. It would be nice to be able to (optionally) conceal your presence in a Meetup. Be it related to atheism or religion or sexual orientation or recovering alcoholism or even stamp collecting or trainspotting, there are a lot of groups that one might want to join that they wouldn't necessarily want to shout about to everyone. And that's not the fault of having a unique name -- anyone in any Meetup group that I'm in will certainly be able to "out" me as a member of any other Meetup group that I'm a member of, even if I'm named John Smith. And it's entirely likely that I'll share professional Meetup groups with potential employers.

kubiiii 13y ago
If you have nothing to hide it's fine. Well it's not. Stalkers and bullies love to find informations wether it's shameful or not. It makes their task easier.
- derefr 13y ago
  This argument proves too much. Living your life normally, in general, helps stalkers and bullies. The only thing that doesn't "help" them (in one way) is making your own life more difficult for their sake... which "helps" them more directly, by making them feel acknowledged and dominant. People should not have to compensate for the actions of broken people. Celebrities know how to be functional in this situation: share everything, and get restraining orders.

vdaniuk 13y ago

Hey, actually if you ready to spend some time, there is a way to solve your problem. The algorithm is simple -- add noise. Create multiple virtual identities with first/last name. Then instantiate these identities in social networks, forums, mailing lists, etc. Link corresponding accounts together to raise their search ranking. Bam! You're not longer visible on first page of google search results. While security through obscurity wont work against a sophisticated opponent, its enough to prevent casual snooping.

sliverstorm 13y ago

Same boat, my name is 100% distinct, and while I don't know if it ever has or will cause me problems, it is mildly unsettling to search Google.

Crito 13y ago

I have a friend who has the dubious honor of sharing a name with a convicted murderer who was executed in Texas a few years ago. I asked him about how he thinks that has effected him. His take is that although it might turn off some brain-dead HR people, since there is no actual ambiguity (he surely is not an executed person) it hasn't negatively impacted him too much but it does push all the relevant links off the first few google results pages unless he actively does SEO stuff to correct it. He asserts that it gives him a good deal of control over what google shows for his name. I've taken a similar approach to online pseudonyms. Any work that I don't intend to be attached to my 'meatspace' identity is done under names that will return irrelevant results when googled, making it difficult to find my other accounts that may have the same pseudonym on other sites.

brewdad 13y ago

I have a very uncommon last name and relatively uncommon first name. Still, there are three people on the internet with my name. We're all within two years of each other in age. One even lives in the state I grew up in. Put us all together and there's not a demographic we can't offend in some way.

brador 13y ago

Why not use it to your advantage? Preseed awesome profiles with your Googleable name.