What did Google have to say about me yesterday when I googled myself?
I’ll be the first to admit, I had anxiety over this exercise. The digital highway is a big place and I wasn’t sure where I would be led to. Thankfully, I discovered that Google didn’t know that I had accidentally lit my dumpster on fire one winter night. Google also did not know what size shoes I wear but Google knew just about everything else.
Google told me every book I have read from my Goodreads account. Reading is a past time of mine that I have had for the majority of my life so that list is pretty long.
I was able to easily find previous addresses of mine. I found that unsettling since I am not sure why anyone would want to know that information and if so why? I am meeting some incredibly interesting people while on my journey through life but I am not sure I need to know their previous address or vice versa?
I found images of my brothers and children but did not find a picture of myself? I also found a site that shared my annual income! Yup right there for all the world to see! According to the site my annual income is 183K per year! Guess that tells you right there that you can’t believe everything on the internet😊
I also found out there is a woman who is 92 that lives in New York state. Now that is a little interesting to me. I spent about 30 seconds wondering if she could be a relative?
My Facebook account popped up but I did not see my Twitter account?
I spent a few years volunteering with the Red Cross and I was a little let down that I did not find anything related to the Red Cross.
So, according to Google the majority of time I am logging my reads and sharing my thoughts within https://www.goodreads.com/.
It would recommend that we all need to check your digital footprints from time to time, who knows what you may need to explain.
I know parents of my future students will be interested in their child’s teacher, I am sure will warrant some Google searches. Along with that I understand future employers are required to ensure safety of children and therefore, will need to Google search my name. I am not concerned with what can be found on the internet rather I am concerned with the security of the information.
Raising Awareness about Human Trafficking 
That is crazy that it did not in fact show all of the what you thought was important things such as the red cross deal. Did it show anyone else with your name?
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I was taken away with the amount of women (all ages) in several countries that share my name!
At first I was not motivated to complete this exercise but the more I thought about living a transparent life the more I started thinking about the need to grow digital literate children in our schools.
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My number one result was also my Goodreads account, haha! As a future teacher, I wouldn’t be mad if it stayed that way.
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Oh my goodness, the dumpster fire made me laugh! But on a serious note, I find it frightening that previous addresses are on there. That could be a trail that could be followed by not so nice people. I also found it weird that your income was supposedly posted online. That is something that shouldn’t ever be online, I am glad that it wasn’t correct. I also found people with the same name, it would be cool to meet them someday.
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So glad you enjoyed the fire part, lol!
I hadn’t thought about meeting others with common names? I wonder if one day you could create a #hashtag? Have a great week!
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It really is wild what you can find on the internet when you google yourself. When I did it, I found all of my high school track times from my freshman year to senior year. It had every meet that I ran, what race I ran and the time I ran. This is something that I wouldn’t even be able to tell you if you asked but google was all over it! I like the point you made about the safety of the information, it is scary that people can find every address that you have lived. Who knows what a skilled user could find when searching for one of us?!
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Exactly! Here’s a final thought, the younger a person is, does that mean the larger amount of data Google compiles per person?
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It is pretty scary to think about all of the things that Google did know about us all. I too would be happy to know that Google does not know about all of the embarrassing things that happen in our lives!
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Ya! Hope you are enjoying the slower week!
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Digital footprints are strange and can vary after time. There are a lot of strange things that can pop up and some of them can be uncomfortable to see. Though nothing like that popped up on mine there were a lot of other Courtney’s out there. Great post!
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