There are many things to look and search for when you are trying to find out what's out there about you. Your name is a start, but there are lots of other things that can connect you to your past and activities. Some of which you would rather have kept out of the way of idle eyes.
The search: "how to look at yourself on internet" - 5 July 2011 - actually hit on narcisufing page but it was an opportunity to update this page.
Also, I am not sure if this was what the searcher was looking for - they may have been looking for a way to upload photos to the Internet so that they could look at them using a web browser?
The following was a step-by-step method that I came up with sometime back (in the days when MySpace and Friendster still were on the radar)
Examples here use Google as the search engine although the tips will apply to all engines. I have been using the pseudonym "Anthony Nagy" for examples of how searches report. A big general tip is to change the "number of results" in "Preferences" to 100 from the default value of 10 (Google) - this makes the searching of the page quicker.
If your name is returned in position 80 something then it is easy to miss! Having the number of results set to 10 will mean that you will be on page 8 of the search list.
All browsers have a search function that allows you to search for specific text on the page you are looking at.
This is particularly useful if the page contains a lot of text and requires you to scroll down to see all of it.
I use Firefox and the search, Ctl-F, displays a search box on the lower status bar and you can easily scan to the next occurrence. Microsoft IE has a similar search.
You could ask for the information to be removed - but this is not always possible.
Web sites are more interested in posting information (you do it for them!). Removal has to be done in a lot of cases by a person at the web-site - that is if you can establish contact with one!
a personal web page (or site) is a good way of countering what is said about you on sites that you have no control. A well constructed Blog is another way.
Some Observations:
If you are young person I wouldn't worry too much about the fact that you have information on the Internet that describes your antics in "rowdy parties and drunken escapades".
We are all young once! and even if you are not we all have to let our hair down once in a while. Also proclaiming your sexual preference on the web is an excellent way of "coming out" and what with the equality laws that exist it will give you the advantage should you be discriminated for that reason. (difficult to prove though!)
A much more important issue is to develop a web presence that promotes you in a positive light. The sooner you start one the more time you will have develop it. Expect to "tune" your profile constantly over time. In these days of the Internet it is going to become more and more important that you can be found on the Internet and it is in your best interest to make that presence a "professional" one.
The search: "how to look at yourself on internet" - 5 July 2011 - actually hit on narcisufing page but it was an opportunity to update this page.
Also, I am not sure if this was what the searcher was looking for - they may have been looking for a way to upload photos to the Internet so that they could look at them using a web browser?
The following was a step-by-step method that I came up with sometime back (in the days when MySpace and Friendster still were on the radar)
Examples here use Google as the search engine although the tips will apply to all engines. I have been using the pseudonym "Anthony Nagy" for examples of how searches report. A big general tip is to change the "number of results" in "Preferences" to 100 from the default value of 10 (Google) - this makes the searching of the page quicker.
- Use ALL the search engines (Google and others) to search for Your Name (for starters) [see tips below]
- Do the same searches using any nicknames or alias's that you may have used.
- Again search for your e-mail address, all of them and even parts of it - try search for just the name before the @ for instance
- Places that you have worked - you name might not be in a main index (of a search engine) but it may appear on the pages of a company.
- Search ALL forums and chat pages that you may have participated on.
- Do a search on all the social networking sites such as:
Orkut - Yahoo 360 - MySpace - Zoominfo.com - Friendster - Facebook - Xanga
If your name is returned in position 80 something then it is easy to miss! Having the number of results set to 10 will mean that you will be on page 8 of the search list.
All browsers have a search function that allows you to search for specific text on the page you are looking at.
This is particularly useful if the page contains a lot of text and requires you to scroll down to see all of it.
I use Firefox and the search, Ctl-F, displays a search box on the lower status bar and you can easily scan to the next occurrence. Microsoft IE has a similar search.
What can you do about things you find and don't like
You could ask for the information to be removed - but this is not always possible.
Web sites are more interested in posting information (you do it for them!). Removal has to be done in a lot of cases by a person at the web-site - that is if you can establish contact with one!
a personal web page (or site) is a good way of countering what is said about you on sites that you have no control. A well constructed Blog is another way.
Some Observations:
If you are young person I wouldn't worry too much about the fact that you have information on the Internet that describes your antics in "rowdy parties and drunken escapades".
We are all young once! and even if you are not we all have to let our hair down once in a while. Also proclaiming your sexual preference on the web is an excellent way of "coming out" and what with the equality laws that exist it will give you the advantage should you be discriminated for that reason. (difficult to prove though!)
A much more important issue is to develop a web presence that promotes you in a positive light. The sooner you start one the more time you will have develop it. Expect to "tune" your profile constantly over time. In these days of the Internet it is going to become more and more important that you can be found on the Internet and it is in your best interest to make that presence a "professional" one.
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