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I advised DS1 to google himself as he was working on his activities resume, so he could see what might pop up if a college admissions officer poked around. Happily, there were things about activities he's participated in (that provide easy confirmation of his involvement), a couple of things about awards, and nothing terribly embarrassing. He kept his Xanga (when he had one) very anonymous. Never used his real name anywhere.
The biggest Google surprise was that I found a draft of the abstract for DS's huge project -- he was NOT a happy camper. Beware of what you save online with GoogleDocs!!
I've checked both kids, with their knowledge, but do so at the same time I'm googling myself or DH. I think of it as an online credit check of sorts -- just making sure there's no monkey business out there!
Sometimes DS will share with me something he's posted on his blog and I might suggest "do you really want to say that in a public forum?" or "If you're trying to maintain your anonymity, do you think this might be TMI?" Usually he agrees and will change it. There are plenty of examples of friends sharing WAY too much info online and that generates interesting conversations, so if I actually comment on something he's shared, he takes it seriously.
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