Using Google to Find Information about People

[wildviolet]

So, I was talking to an office administrator at my university recently, and I happened to see a list of names on her desk that read: "People Not Found on Google." It was laying openly on her desk. I just glanced at the title briefly. I have no idea who these people were. Potential graduate students? Faculty?

With so many of us putting ourselves out there on the Internet, what do you think about this? Have you Googled your own name to see what would come up?

[runaway]

Um, yes! I google myself often and I do whatever I can to modify the results so that I like what appears. I expect to be googled by anyone who is given my resume.

[Duna]

Sure! I google myself often to keep track of what pictures one can find and to see if my personal website is still up, running and found through Google. Before I started applying to graduate schools, I set up a website and changed some profile pictures etc (not that they were inappropriate before but I wanted to have the right one).

I suppose it depends on what you're applying for and what your background is but for some programs it could make a difference (or maybe just one tiny bit of the package).

[wildviolet]

Um, yes! I google myself often and I do whatever I can to modify the results so that I like what appears. I expect to be googled by anyone who is given my resume.

How do you modify the results? I'm not the most tech savvy (hey, I remember using Pine for email during my freshman year in college) and definitely haven't kept up with all the social media/google stuff.

I think my surprise, as it were, stems from the formalization of the process.

[wildviolet]

Sure! I google myself often to keep track of what pictures one can find and to see if my personal website is still up, running and found through Google.

Okay, so I haven't Googled myself in a while, and I just did it. Luckily, one of the first things that comes up is my MS thesis, so anyone looking will know that it's legit.

[TakeruK]

This thread reminds me of a 30 Rock scene where the character Tracy mistakes the term "googling yourself" to mean something else!

Anyways, Facebook allows you view your profile as anyone else on your friends' list or as a member of the general public. I regularly check my own Facebook as a "general public" viewer to see what someone would see if they Googled me and found my profile page. I just make sure only general things show up -- schools attended, jobs held, where I live currently. I don't show a display picture.

When I'm trying to Google someone else (especially with a generic name), I might write something like "John Smith UCLA" or "John Smith UCLA astronomy" etc. to make sure I find the right person. So, it's a good idea to create your own webpage at your current institutions, if possible. If you log onto a machine to use pine for email, then it's very likely that when you first log in, you are in your home directory. Then, if you put .html files in your public_html directory (make one if it doesn't exist), it will appear online with the URL:

http://[your dept address here e.g. www.astro.schoolx.edu]/~[your username here]

Assuming that all default settings are used! Many departments turn this off though.

In general, manipulating Google search results is harder than just seeing what comes up and changing the content of the pages that appear (e.g. public Facebook profile etc.). I think the general idea of manipulating Google results is to create other pages that contain the keywords people would use to look for you and have those pages link to the pages you want to show up on Google. But the only places where I put my slightly more personal things on the Web are Facebook (which I can control somewhat) and my blog, which I never update (but I don't mention my name anyways).

I find it funny that there is an established scientist with the same name as me, even the same first middle initial, and has adjunct status at my new PhD school! I found this out a long time ago but just recently remembered it! Maybe it's another sign that I am making the right choice? haha

[1Q84]

What! That folder is seriously ominous. Good idea to bring this up... I never considered adcomms googling people. I always just associated that with job hunting, but I guess this, in a way, is pretty similar.

Edit: okay, so I thought my name was really rare but I just googled it and found tons of others with my name who, I suppose, are more keen on proliferating their online presence.

I found one open twitter account with my name that is full of vulgarity and (gasp) awful spelling. It doesn't have any identifying details that would mark it out as NOT me. Now I'm kind of paranoid that people may stumble upon it and think it's me! What should I do? :/

Edited August 11, 2012 by ponponpon

[ktel]

My name is very unique so I am very searchable. When I Google myself I just get pages and pages of sports related stories. Although don't the Google search results vary slightly from person to person? I think they track your recent searches and whatnot and so it could be different. I might be wrong.

[wildviolet]

Okay, so I tried Googling my name AND my undergrad university and Google was able to find the "real me" fairly accurately. Most of these finds were newspaper articles or other publicity documents that contained my name and university because I was interviewed for something. It's all good. My picture from my gmail account even shows up in the pics (I use the same one for my LinkedIn account, too).

I just think it's really interesting that we've gotten to this point in social media. I always joke about the days when I was a kid and had to have change for the pay phone to call home and let my mom know where I had gone with my friends. I remember when getting three-way calling was super exciting.

[Duna]

The Google SEO starter guide gives you an idea what you can easily do to make your website easy to find. Usually you need two other pages that link to yours, so that the Google-bot comes around and scans your page but you can also "order" it to come.

And yes, Google results vary from person to person. Browser cookies, Google account data and who knows what influences the search results. The Filter Bubble (the book, the TED talks, blogs) is a super interesting topic...

[Dal PhDer]

this is scary....go thing there's another one of me that is a hardcore real professional and looks excellent on paper!

[radiowires]

Googling my name turns up some hits that are definitely and obviously me... but it also turns up a ton of hits from peoples' genealogy projects, a new divorcee, someone on Yahoo answers looking for baby names, and a picture of a half-topless woman. I had no idea my name was so popular.

Edited August 14, 2012 by radiowires

[Dal PhDer]

and a picture of a half-topless woman. I had no idea my name was so popular.

Depending on who's looking you up- this could go in your favour!!

[magog]

If you have an academia.edu account you can receive notifications when someone finds your page through a google search, as well as a list of the key words they searched for. I received several such notifications this last spring right around the time adcoms would have been looking at my applications.

[mandarin.orange]

Awhile back, googling my name resulted in a trannyweb.com profile as the 2nd or 3rd result.

I think the profile still exists, but fortunately it's sifted its way further down in the search results.

My students used to google me all the time, and were pretty unabashed about telling me so.

[Chasely]

It's not surprising that they'd look up students. I figure it would have to be something really good (or bad) in order to make a difference.

I have a very, very, very unique name so I didn't come across an incorrect google result in the first five pages. Luckily, nothing bad except for a livejournal (remember those?!) post my high school friend made with my name in it. Nothing bad about me, but a lot of swearing.

[cajunmama]

There is someone in a not unrelated field with almost the same name as me, with just one letter off. Most google hits for my name turn up as her.

[Dal PhDer]

I decided to google myself, and I found this...from 1996 when I was 11.....I didn't even know the internet existed back then! hahahaha!

Name/Age/Gender:_______, 11, Girl

E-Mail Address: ______

City: halifax/nova scotia/canada

School: saint francis

-

1. Who am I?

my interests are swimming and riding my hobbies are doing puzzles

and solving problems. my concerns are that everyone is happy

-

2. What do I want to be when I grow up?

i would like to be a cook or an interior designer

-

3. How do I want the world to be better when I grow up?

i think that when i grow up i would like it to go back to

horse and wagon and not have so much pollution. i think we could

improve our environment and people by cutting down less trees

and respecting people

-

4. What can I do now to make this happen?

maybe instead of using cars, we can walk and use bicycles

use more things that are recyclable

don't use paper plates

maybe not make fun of people if they look different

- Submitted via the KIDLINK WWW - 96.04.13 00:03:18 GMT -

[mandarin.orange]

3. How do I want the world to be better when I grow up?

i think that when i grow up i would like it to go back to

horse and wagon and not have so much pollution. i think we could

improve our environment and people by cutting down less trees

and respecting people

-

4. What can I do now to make this happen?

maybe instead of using cars, we can walk and use bicycles

use more things that are recyclable

This is telling, isn't it? You're in an Environmental Studies-related discipline now, amiright?

The above eerie for me to read, b/c I've found journals from my younger self with similar thoughts. I was obsessed with the "Little House on the Prairie" books...my dad got me out hiking all the time...we moved to the west coast when I was 9, driving through Kansas and the mid-continent, and I lamented the progress of man and that I saw more strip malls and development than the prairie Wilder had described.

I also bugged my dad for months afterward, "OK, if we had taken a covered wagon...where would we be now?"

[ktel]

I wrote a letter to my future self when I was 11 which was mailed to me recently (it was supposed to be mailed 10 years afterwards). I thought that when I was 21 I would be married with 2 kids living in New York City with a law degree. Haha

My boyfriend's sister is 8 and it was very interesting reading her yearbook. Everybody in her class wants to either be a doctor, teacher, artist or athlete.

[runaway]

I totally forgot about this thread!

As per 'modifying' my results, people have pretty much already mentioned everything. I make sure my LinkedIn is up to date, because I know it has a high SEO ranking and will almost always be the top result. Every now and then I come across a social media profile I'd forgotten about which has my full name on it, so I'll go and adjust profiles as needed. I'm also not above contacting people and asking politely that they take something down or make it private. Generally people understand, as they're concerned with how they show up in Google, too.

A word on Facebook: you never know when you might get a sudden request from someone professional, so it's worth keeping your friends-only information looking respectable, too.

[Dal PhDer]

This is telling, isn't it? You're in an Environmental Studies-related discipline now, amiright?

The above eerie for me to read, b/c I've found journals from my younger self with similar thoughts. I was obsessed with the "Little House on the Prairie" books...my dad got me out hiking all the time...we moved to the west coast when I was 9, driving through Kansas and the mid-continent, and I lamented the progress of man and that I saw more strip malls and development than the prairie Wilder had described.

I also bugged my dad for months afterward, "OK, if we had taken a covered wagon...where would we be now?"

You are spot on! I am environmental health sciences!! It's a little crazy how much of a greenie I was when I was a kid and I didn't even know it!!! I was also obsessed with Little House! Did you NOT want to be half pint!?!?! That was totally the life! I still believe going back to horse and wagon would be awesome!! Perhaps I am seeking out my Amish Paradise!?!

It's crazy how much our childhood characteristics and beliefs are still in us and we don't realize!

[GreenePony]

When I was going through the application process I made sure anything associated with my maiden name was "okay". The problem is now is that my married name is incredibly common so good luck to anyone trying to find anything on me without using my maiden name as well, even if you search within museums. Unfortunately one of the first links with my professional (maiden+married) name is a poorly chosen quote by my undergrad newspaper

[mandarin.orange]

It's crazy how much our childhood characteristics and beliefs are still in us and we don't realize!

...and yet, soooo frowned upon to begin your SOP waxing poetic with: "When I was a child..." Even though these are formative experiences.

[1Q84]

I remembered this thread and started googling myself to see what may come up. Luckily just my LinkedIn account!