Avatars, online personas and suchlike

[mimitabby]

I put up a clear enough foto, but my name is not the legal name i go by in the USA. I have a little paranoia myself.

[kelownagirl]

I put up a clear enough foto, but my name is not the legal name i go by in the USA. I have a little paranoia myself.

You mean when I finally get to meet you in person, I'm going to have to learn a third name?? (And I did notice the 1914 - me personally, I would have made myself younger but hey, to each his own... )

If I google myself, I get all my school stuff - my class website etc. Other than that, I'm not too famous. Oh, and I get my dh's ex's links sometimes too because she has the same name.

[bmccasland]

I have trouble coming up with creative stuff, like names. On the other hand, when I've Googled my name - I could be me, here in the Big Easy, or a wine grower in California (not me). Maybe I could switch places with the other BMcCasland?

[mimitabby]

Kgirl, one thing I really don't want is to get hit on. So This way i can assure myself that the only people that want to talk to me are doing it for platonic reasons.
and THANK YOU for noticing

Also, i have a mother who has lied about her age all of her life.
Since she is only 20 years older than me, even when I was small, it was awkward.
I was 11 telling her new boyfriend i was 9. No kidding. I did that.
Now, I scandalize her just by admitting my age...
(she's younger than I am now)
I have 4 names. legal name, nickname (mimi), maiden name and married name.

Simple!

[Trek420]

I have trouble coming up with creative stuff, like names. On the other hand, when I've Googled my name - I could be me, here in the Big Easy, or a wine grower in California (not me). Maybe I could switch places with the other BMcCasland?

I just Googled my first and middle name and came up with my own homepage, the part with family bio, family tree (helloooo vacation in Monaco!! ), archived donation pages for rides I've been on, rides I've donated to .... oh well. So much for the anonymity of the internet

[mimitabby]

yeah, but YOU know your middle name, I don't.

[Trek420]

yeah, but YOU know your middle name, I don't.

But if I just Google (and since when is that a verb?) my first name I get links to a German porn star

[Mr. Bloom]

My persona is "me"...but I'm still careful with that. If I google "me", I'm all over the internet:

• Full Name: 14 hits including public filings that reveal my income for the world to see , membership on the board of a national organization, and other bona fides and accomplishments
• Casual Name: Fortunately, there are about five other folks in america with the same casual name...two attorney's, a business owner, a disney imagineer, and a basketball player. So, they have stuff that dilutes the ease of "finding me". But, if you know what you're looking for, you'll easily find residuals of our family website (even though I've taken it offline), the non-profit boards I'm on, non-business press releases that I didn't know I was quoted in , church committees I served on 10 years ago!, and directions to our house

So, by going through this exercise, I'm convinced that privacy is something that requires ACTIVE PROTECTION, since plenty will happen WITHOUT ANY EFFORT.