What does Google say about you?
 

I did a search and found some mildly-related threads but not one with this specific topic. In browsing "Sorority Recruitment" forum, I saw lots of references to what entertaining findings have come up when PNMs get searched online. It got me wondering what would come up if I Googled my first and last name in quotes and the results were limited but pretty cool. I look like a model citizen. ;)

*I donated $50 to "Take Steps for Crohn's and Colitis."
*I went to an HBCU and was on a Honda Campus All-Star team.
*On a Facebook invitation to a church discussion, I was listed as facilitator.
*And I participated in an adult spelling bee last year.

So what does Google say about you? Anything intesting?

I found:

* a speed skater (not me)
* lead singer of a band (not me, can't sing to save my life)
* ex- Student Council President (me)
* my LinkedIn profile
* pledgeclass Facebookgroup (mine)
* that I was on the Debate Team in high school

The are a few other women with the same name who are also roughly the same age it's hard to see who's who.

If you use just my "firstname lastname", there are so many that aren't me that it is hard to decipher who is who. If you include my middle name, then you get all sorority related things.. lists of volunteers, donations to our Foundation, my honors for volunteer work, etc.

There is one entry that includes a phone number and email address, neither of which is current.

- I am the top hit for a certain segment of my profession (woohoo! Thanks, Husband, for your awesome search engine optimization).
- I participated in a clinical trial for a diabetes cure (the article was syndicated through the AP, and was published as far away as Britain. That's awesome for the researchers I worked with, they were *awesome*)
- My LinkedIn and (professional) Twitter are pretty near the top
- Oddly, a musical I was in in high school comes up on the second page
- My Flickr portfolio of my photography comes up.

Google often reminds me that I was Hitler's secretary and a member of the Nazi Party.

Seriously, it's the first link.

^^^Have you seen Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary? It's an awesome movie.

There's only one of me. Those of you who know my last name will not be shocked. It's mostly charities I've donated to and open facebook groups, plus some Clarion yearbook stuff. The one that amuses me the most is me being listed as a contact to a company who was one of my old job's clients...who was gone LONG before I was.

"I'm the realest novelist-poet-photographer-nonprofit professional you know."

That sums it up nicely, I'd say.

I'm super Google-able because I have a distinctive last name. It's mostly:

-- my company's masthead
-- my Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
-- press releases I wrote at my first job
-- MediaBistro Fishbowl hits (a journalism gossip site)
-- marathon results, stuff from when I swam competitively, etc.

My husband, however, appears to be a famous pottery maker.

If you do "FirstName MI Marriedlastname", it's all me, including my 800casting portfolio.

If you do "FirstName Marriedlastname" there are so many it's ridiculous.

If you do "FirstName Married-Maiden", it's all me.

If you do "FirstName Maiden", there are also so many it's ridiculous.


I blame it on my first name being Jessica. You could probably Google "Jessica" and just about any last name and get dozens.

My LinkedIn and Twitter were the first two things. Then I saw a few "Groups" that I'm admin for on Facebook mixed in with by a few "articles" I wrote when I was doing some writing with Demand Studios and a few Alpha Xi Delta related links.

Everything was me, I have a unique name.

If you use "Nickname Lastname" it's almost entirely me. But it's just a few hits from some high school speech tournaments, a commendation I received from my high school's school board, and a powerpoint I did for a class that got posted on the school's website. Oh, and a post I took in my university's SGA.

If you use "Fullname Lastname", lots of people who aren't me pop up- but some hits from shows I've been in do appear, as well as some random high school stuff. I also am a recently married graphic designer (not).

Mine are ever so wrong. My "first name married name" sounds almost exactly like a famous but dead male actor, so I got "did you mean...?"

"first name maiden name" gives me a mountain of not me people, which is odd because I, and likely you would say I have a fairly unusual, if not outright weird name.

I have an unusual last name, so I was shocked when my fiance said, "I didn't know you played basketball." Turns out that there's another woman who's my half second cousin once removed (seriously) about 40 miles from me. We've since spoken, and agreed to use our middle initials to keep from being mistaken.

With that in mind (mixing both of our profiles)

-I went to Penn State on a basketball scholarship.
-I'm engaged to someone I never heard of.
-I started a national soccer club.
-I comment often on certain genealogical forums.
-I played baseball.
-I'm an alumna of Alpha Delta Pi.
-I was a bartender.
-I am active with Small Paws Rescue, Inc.
-I played softball.
-I am a partner in a home health care company.

*whew!*

And, we're the only two people with that name!

Googling myself, I found an entry for me on mylife.com (which I have never heard of) because of my father (who I guess has me listed as his daughter..). I know it is actually me because of the name of my tiny tiny town that I grew up in. There's also my goodreads profile. But that's it, if you were to google my full name.
If you google my nickname lastname, I'm even more unsearchable.
I think this is a good thing. There's nothing bad about me on the internet anyway, but I kind of like being hard to find.

Full Legal Name (first/last)
266 results - All 100% me

• LinkedIn

• Classmates.com for high school

• Previous employer (still listed as contact)

• Sorority

Preferred Name (first/last)
69 results - Not all me

• LinkedIn

• Sorority

• Facebook

• Previous employer (still listed as contact)

• Haywireseries.com (y'all should check it out!)

• Weird genealogy thing from the late 1800s (not me)

• A death notice from Barbados (not me)

• NYS Division of Parole Bidder's Conference for Residential Stabilization Program (this one's me lol)