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.

Protect Your Online Privacy- Part 2

At the beginning of this series, we were talking about the importance of protecting your privacy and being thoughtful about what information you choose to share on social networking sites. It is interesting to note that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook was recently embarrassed when some instant messages he sent to a friend were made public. I can't post them here, due to some questionable language, but in the messages he openly brags about how much information he has on people. When the other person asked him how he got all that information, he says that they "trust him" and he goes on to make a derogatory comment about how stupid the people are for trusting him with their information. I think that says a lot about how he feels about protecting the security and privacy of user's information.

There is this persistent illusion of trust that happens on the internet. There are a few things that you need to know about the companies you give your information to:

• They do not have your best interests in mind- Companies that collect and store your information aren't looking after you, they are trying to make money. When you connect to other sites with your Facebook or other social networking account, you are letting them follow you around and take notes.
  
  
• You are creating a record- It becomes easy to find out more about who someone is when they are connecting their shopping, web surfing, reading and video renting habits to one social networking site. This record then follows you around and could easily be misused. Things that don't seem like they are that important can be misused by someone who doesn't like you. It isn't hard to take some information and re-frame it in a way that make you look bad. And you would have no recourse.
  
  
• When you post information, you give away the rights to it- Take a look at Facebook's privacy policy and read through all 5,830 words. You will be shocked to find out that although the service is free, you have given Facebook the rights to all information you post, and pictures or other media you publish, the sites you connect with. All of it. Once you post it, you can delete it from your profile, but they still own it. Forever.

My point is this, be careful when you post information online. Social networking can be an invaluable business tool and a it can be a great way to interact with your friends. Just, don't let yourself be blinded by the shiny pages and easy to click buttons. Just like you wouldn't go up to a stranger in the supermarket and tell them your full name, give them your cell number, pictures of your kids, your address and tell them about your week long vacation and when you are leaving, you shouldn't do it online. Protect your privacy in the digital world just as diligently as you would in the face to face world.

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.

Protect Your Online Privacy- It's More Important Than You Think- Part 1

I have written many articles about social networking in order to build a larger professional network and also to help you find a new job. And it's true. Thoughtful and appropriate use of social networking sites can help you in your job search in many ways. But, it is also important to understand that even though it seems like you are posting information to share with your friends, you are posting it to share with the world.

Protecting your privacy while you are online is a cause that I am passionate about. I have written about it so much that I feel like I am the creepy old dude holding the sign that says “The End is Nigh”. Nevertheless, it is true. We protect our privacy during face to face interactions with all sorts of people, but carelessly disregard it when we use our mobile phones or connect to social media sites.

Information that you post to these sites is available to anyone who cares to look for it. This information, that we can all be so careless with, can damage our life, our careers and our families.

If you think that I am exaggerating or being overly cautious, take a look at OpenBook. Try searching for things like “my number is” and see how many people have their home phone numbers posted for the whole world to see. Not afraid yet? Try searching for “I'm going on vacation” followed by the name of your city. From there, it is just a Google search to find a telephone and address listing to determine which houses are going to be vacant. If you look just a little closer at the person's Facebook photos, you can probably even find pictures of their home's layout and the items they have inside. It is a full color catalog.

Of course, I am not encouraging you to rob people. I am trying to demonstrate how important it is to keep your personal information off of social networking sites. When you use these sites, it is important that you either keep it strictly business or keep it impersonal. If you want to share personal information or pictures of your kids with your friends, consider emailing them.

Protecting your information is crucial. To find out more, look for Part 2 of this series, which will give you the real truth about the companies you are trusting with your information.

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.

How To Create An Alter Ego

In many previous articles, we have talked about the importance of keeping your social networking profiles clear of anything you don't want an employer, or potential employer to see. You can be sure that any company that is considering hiring you is going to, at the least, perform a Google search on you to find out who you are and will be evaluating your social networking presence. It doesn't matter if you think it is fair or not, the truth is that they will.

So, what if you want to be controversial on the internet, and also want to have a job? For some people, cleaning up their internet presence is enough, but there are others who don't want to stop trolling, posting drinking pictures, making lewd comments to friends and so on. I can respect that, in a way. Some of the most influential people in history have been ones whose views were considered “inappropriate” at the time. So, if you want to keep your conduct off the radar, here are some tips on how to go about it.

• Create a new identity- Pick a name. Any name. Try to come up with something you can live with and try to make it at least close to being a real name. For example, Skilover isn't your best choice. Sam Slopes might be a bit better. If your name doesn't fit a traditional name format, you may have trouble on some sites, so stick to a first and last name.
  
  
• Create a backstory- Now that your identity has a name, it needs a date of birth, a gender and city and state. It may be easier to use your own city, state and gender (you don't have to), but be sure to change the date of birth. You may want to decide what sort of education this person has an where they went to school. If it isn't important for you to connect with previous classmates, then it may be better to skip that information entirely.
  
  
• Make a new email address- This is very important. Don't think that you can use your personal email address on this, it will blow your cover fast. So set up a new email account using a free provider, such as Gmail or Yahoo.
  
  
• Build Social networking profiles- Make a Facebook for your identity. Here, you may or may not want to invite your personal friends or your family. If you add your friends, there is a good chance that someone in your friend's circle will recognize you. To be completely off the radar, try not to add them, but if you do, make sure that they know that you don't want your accounts to be connected in any way.
  
  
• Never break character- You can do as you like online with the new identity, but be sure never to break character. Don't forward the new email address to your old one. Be careful to keep your professional accounts completely separate. I know some people who even go so far as to use a different browser for their alter ego.

With these tips, you should be able to have a little bit of anonymity, but please know that these are just a few helpful hints, and there is still a chance that you could be found out. Depending on what sort of behavior you are trying to keep quiet, you may be slightly embarrassed or a little humiliated. If your life would be ruined if your alter ego was discovered, think long and hard about if it is worth the risk. If it is just a matter of wanting to have some privacy, and the risks of being found out aren't too high, there is certainly nothing wrong with having an alter ego online. So be careful and have fun.

Are you looking for a new job in Philadelphia? 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.