Missing In Action. II. Googling Yourself.

A few months back, I posted an entry regarding old friends and finding them (Missing In Action. Old Friends.) You know... childhood, high school, or college friends.

Found some of them.

Juston Jones turned up through Keith Boykin. Juston is a journalist in NYC; Keith and he collaborated on a story. Connection made. Thanks Keith.

Sean Spence "googled" himself and found my entry. He responded. He's in politics now. Kinda like in college.

Lynnette Tyndall "googled" herself as well, found my entry, and then a whole host of college friends turned up through her. Fun. I wouldn't have searched for them if I didn't like and miss them.

They say it's always a good idea to "google" yourself -- your name, your phone number, and your e-mail address -- just to see where or how your web presence is. You never know what people are posting about you.

And you all know my day job is in higher education, and we're having major discussions about how students should or shouldn't worry about their web presence and content on sites such as MySpace, Downelink, Facebook, or any other free website/communication service.

And the question is always about freedom of expression (which I believe in) while balancing future professional and/or academic goals. I've heard some employers and school will "google" prospectives to glance at their web presence and content. (For the record, I don't keep a MySpace, but someone -- some reader -- apparently made a MySpace page about me... it's accurate -- for the most part -- and positive, so I'm not tripping on it... I just don't recognize (m)any of the "friends" on it.)

Is there a balance? Is it okay for employers or schools to use your web content in admissions/hiring decisions? And how often do you search for yourself online?

Anyway, I'll keep you guys posted on my search for old friends. In the meantime, looks like a lot of folks are looking for Dana and Laurie Flowers. I get hit a jillion times with their names. Dana? Laurie? Where are you? :-)
fs