Google Yourself

I’m very aware when I’m publishing anything on the Internet, whether it’s on social networking sites, blogs, forums or clients’ sites.

Because I know that you may think it’s funny or clever now, but you might cringe when later down the line when your parents, employer, or children see it.  I only need to look back at my school books to realise that!

References to the latest celebrity or Internet meme will make you look crazy… I can haz cheesburger? what’s that all about?!

It’s getting more important to take care of your online self, because more and more employers are checking the Internet for the background of their candidates.  Most people I know will type the name of their new love interest into the search engines to see what comes up.  And there was even a shocking case recently when a man murdered his wife after finding out she had updated her Facebook status to ’single’.

So it’s quite nice that a group of people have created a guide to ‘Ungoogle yourself’ at WikiHow.  They have some tips to reduce or shape your Internet presence, for example not using your full name in forums, contacting webmasters who have published content about you, and burying bad references about you by creating more content associated with your name.

Since getting more involved in the Internet, I’m happy to see that I’ve managed to inadvertently bury my previous web presence, which was a photo taken after a skydive, and published in their ‘hall of fame’.  This was an image that compelled me to book a hairdressers appointment immediately.

Anyway, the inspiration for this post was this video on YouTube :

Edited: October 27th, 2008

iGoogle Carbon Footprint Design

I love the design of the iGoogle Carbon footprint page.

As well as the nice design, they have added some very smart features, and use a good mix of media to make the page interesting and informative.

Sky have got involved with their “Green Shoots” competition.

It’s a great way to increase awareness – getting people involved by encouraging people to create their own content, and it’s also an excellent branding campaign for Sky.

It’s clear to see that Google have Sky in their pocket (or vice verca); the Sky search and SkyCasts are powered by Google search and Google Video respectably.

But it’s nice to see them using their powers for a good cause!

Edited: November 2nd, 2007