[Apple Pro Underwear]

I'm a designer and I have a portfolio website, so a person can deduct a lot of information from what I have online. I actually have interest in leaving a small trail among the online design community in an effort to "be out there".

I also decided that in the future, I more or less want my google search or my online self to reflect how I am in real life. My interests and so forth because I have nothing to hide and I think potential clients or employers (or even new friends) may learn something about me that they don't expect.

When "daimoni" I think completely erased his entire MacNN catalog here, I thought it was a bit much. It almost feels if you leave a standard amount of info on the web about yourself, you blend into the hordes rather than stick out.

[shifuimam]

If you Google my real name, you get exactly two results - my Amazon wishlist and a list of 2002 scholarship recipients at my University for a particular award. If you Google my username, however, you'll get a ton of results, none of which tie me to my real name, so I think I'm well covered. I even have a separate "professional" Gmail address so that potential employers don't associate shifuimam with me.

I'm more concerned with my internet personality having an impact on getting a job. I can handle my own if someone tries to connect the internet me with the IRL me. It's not happened yet, and it doesn't really worry me.

As far as security though, it's a no-brainer. Don't put personally identifying information on the internet, including contact information - unless it's a resume site or something similarly professional. Use Flickr to lock pictures of your kids away from strangers. Just be smart and you'll be fine.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

If you Google my real name, you get exactly two results...

google mine and you get 25,800,000 results. So, I am pretty safe as well, but for exactly the opposite reasons as you. It helps to have a nice common name. There are over 100 people with the same name in the town I currently live in.

[Dork.]

My name gives about 2 million hits on Google. When I was looking for a job, I made sure to look up all sorts of combinations of my name and keywords that describe personal information about me, just to make sure good things came up, even if they weren't about me. It would kind of suck if the first hit that someone got when they googled your name was about a serial killer or something!

[BRussell]

I have the same name as someone in the porn industry (no my name isn't Seymore Butts or Rod Cummings - he's not an actor, and has a normal-sounding name). My actual website, though it comes up in the google search, is completely drowned out by this other person.

I'm not looking for a job or anything, but I've often wondered if old friends that I've lost touch with google my name and say "oh so THAT'S what he's doing now."

[Aeternus]

AHahahah. Awesome.