Do you google your S or D? - Page 3

HisGraceFillsMe · 10-13-2007, 04:55 PM

My mom has googled me, my brother and my sister multiple times. Surprisingly, there's a girl at Elmhurst college with my exact name (my first name is spelled differently and we always thought our last name was REALLY unique ...apparently not). I don't consider it "snooping", because I have nothing to hide. My mom is one of my friends on MySpace, so she can see that anyway. It does make me a little extra cautious of what I post, but that might be a good thing.

backhandgrip · 10-13-2007, 06:42 PM

I was very proud when I googled one of my children and his articles and REVIEWS of HIS articles popped up. Proud mama.Although the criticisms of his articles, that I could do without.

Better than when I google my name and come up with a number of posts on genealogy forums!

MomofWildChild · 10-13-2007, 07:15 PM

I google my kid to see if he has a criminal record yet.

backhandgrip · 10-13-2007, 07:21 PM

LOL Not good. Just wait for a phone call for that one. Anyway, Mom Of Wild Child..........what is your wild child up to these days? Or has he lost his wild ways?!TOOOOOOOO much studying!

Rachacha · 10-13-2007, 07:29 PM

I googled my daughter, and it turns out a local university used her and a nice picture of her in a lab for an article about their summer science programs. A nice addition to her college resume that otherwise I would have never known about...

enderkin · 10-13-2007, 08:12 PM

My first name is a common first AND last name, and my last name is also a common household appliance. Any recruiters searching for me will turn up adult film stars, NASCAR drivers, cartoon characters, and washed-up actors. I waded through 15 pages after several advanced searches and found absolutely nothing on me. Resplendent.

CountingDown · 10-13-2007, 10:35 PM

Chocoholic,
I have never seen any of my kids' Google chats or emails online. It was just one thing on DS's Google Pages (which is different from Google Docs, he tells me). Not to worry!

teriwtt · 10-13-2007, 11:43 PM

Sorry if this is straying off topic, but we just got back to our hotel after dinner with D1 and two of her friends and their parents... all girls are seniors at college. I think this topic is important.

One of D's friends said she 'heard' that some companies are buying college e-mail addresses so they can access facebooks of students they're considering hiring. She said she heard that they can even access information about the kids without being part of their 'private' group of friends.

We were speculating (she also had heard this) that some bigger corporations are paying facebook off to get access to sites they shouldn't. Of course we all know this is illegal (I'm assuming)... a breach of privacy.

Since the kids are seniors and interviewing for jobs, they are a bit spooked as they all assumed their 'friends only' sites were safe. I think they are particularly concerned about photos (I learned what a keg stand is tonight!).

However, they also mentioned if anyone else puts up incriminating pictures of you, you can request facebook to remove it, so that doesn't necessarily go along with them being so liberal with making these sites accessible to those who shouldn't have it.

Funny comment by D, though, "I'll bet there's not a CEO of a major corporation out there today who did not do a funnel or keg stand while they were in college." (well, that may be exaggerating, but probably not too far from the truth.)

sly_vt · 10-15-2007, 07:54 AM

Pretty recently, Facebook changed its policies and Facebook profiles can now be uncovered on Google searches. You can go into your profile preferences and change them so your profile does not come up on searches -- but you have to go and make that change.

I've also heard of companies using .edu emails to check up on applicants. I've heard that they "friend" you and most college students automatically friend back. The message here is only friend back someone that you know, and not a stranger.

MotherOfTwo · 10-15-2007, 09:31 AM

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/colum...k_Grandpa.html

This is a really cute column from today's Philadelphia Inquirer which is very relevant to this topic !

mommusic · 10-15-2007, 09:53 AM

Very cute!

The advantage to having parents and g'parents on Facebook is that maybe kids will think twice about what they post, knowing granma/grampa may see it!

soozievt · 10-15-2007, 09:55 AM

MotherOfTwo...great article!

Sly_VT....I wonder if my kids have that setting because when googling them, nothing from Facebook appears.

chocoholic · 10-15-2007, 10:52 AM

That is pretty funny, grandpa looking for "Random Play" Wonder if Grandma knows

well, the wonders of Viagra!!!

I believe that Facebook simple does not have the firewalls and security that Google, Yahoo. etc. do. I have heard that it is easier to hack into accounts, to dig out personal info. etc. So even though it is a wonderful social utility, I would still post with caution, whether it be drunken pics. or sexual escapades, or how I cheated on the SAT.

Here is an excerpt from Facebook's Privacy Policy:

THE INFORMATION FACEBOOK COLLECTS

When you visit Facebook you provide us with two types of information: personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected by us and Web Site use information collected by us as you interact with our Web Site.

When you register with Facebook, you provide us with certain personal information, such as your name, your email address, your telephone number, your address, your gender, schools attended and any other personal or preference information that you provide to us.

You post User Content on the Site at your own risk. Although we allow you to set privacy options that limit access to your pages, please be aware that no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. We cannot control the actions of other Users with whom you may choose to share your pages and information. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that User Content you post on the Site will not be viewed by unauthorized persons. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Site. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal, copies of User Content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other Users have copied or stored your User Content.

Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (e.g., photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalized experience.

chocoholic · 10-15-2007, 10:56 AM

Also, people who you friend, and whom you allow complete priveleges, can then pick up your posted photos, and post them on their own facebook page, which may NOT be private.
So yeah, I think Facebook is much more "loosely" guarded, and my kids get the reminder lecture from me every so often, of not posting anything they would not want in their biography 20 years from now.

bethievt · 10-15-2007, 01:18 PM

That WAS a good article. I don't get anything from facebook when I google my son either, but it's sort of like a scrapbook of his accomplishments. Kinda fun to peek at it sometimes when I'm missing him. The only other person with his name is a criminal.