Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Do You Want to Clean Up Your Internet Presence?

By now I'm sure that you know how important it is to keep track of the information that is available about you online.


Almost any employer will at least do the most basic of web searches on your name, your e-mail address, and any other information they have about you. In fact, if they didn't, they would be considered negligent.


But the problem for many of us who have been online for years, is what about the accounts that you have forgotten? I mean, who here even remember their Friendster ID and the associated password? I am scared to think of how many account I created ten years ago, before the senility kicked in, that I can't remember now. But, unlike us, Google doesn't forget easily and you can be sure that even if you don't remember posting those comments years ago, Google does. Not only does it remember, it has no problems with making that information available to anyone who is interested enough to find out.


However, like most problems, there is a solution available, for a small fee of course. There is a new service called DeleteMe, that promises to help you clean up your Internet presence.


While more complicated Internet histories can cost a lot, they charge $10 to delete an old account and $50 to remove an unwanted search result. They are even planing to introduce a service called "Find my old accounts" which will help users locate accounts they may have forgotten about.


The interesting thing about this service is that the work isn't being done by a series of search-and-destroy programs, but rather by real people. Basically, you can hire someone to find your old accounts, delete them and help you remove blog posts about you including comments you have made on these old accounts in the past. They can even use their expertise to help remove undesirable search results.


Keep in mind that there will always be some things online that you don't like and that can't be erased. There is no magic wand when it comes to this sort of information, so it is better to just be careful whenever you post anything online. But, if you made a few blunders in the past when you thought that no one was looking, this type of service can certainly help.


Are you looking for a job in the Philadelphia area? Check out PhillyJobs.

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.

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