That's the biggest reason I don't use my real name for ANYTHING ONLINE! Kayjones is a name that popped into my head when My son, the computer guru, set my computer up in 1997 and said "Mother, never put your real name on the internet." He's a smart boy! LOL

Results of our county commission meetings are posted online, so the permit we applied for three years ago pops up when I google myself.

Yep, I have been married over 10 years but stuff still shows up under my maiden name.

I had a teacher once, who warned us, never put anything in writing you might be embarassed to see on a headline in a newspaper, because it could possibly show up there.

I am sorry this came as a surprise to you. Nothing on the internet is "private", e-mail, banking,facebook it is all up for grabs on the same super wired highway. It only takes the right sort of skill to access it. Posters be ware! The older it gets the more we forget this. Colleges are looking prospective student's up, employers are looking up credit scores, nothing is private anymore.

I've put my name in several times...but I never find anything...

There is some Basketball Coach with my name...he gets all the space...LOL

patti

As some have already pointed out, even if you never use the Internet you will find things about yourself there. Someone else can post info such as minutes to a meeting or if you ever appeared or were interviewed for a publication - it is there.

When I first got online, I Googled a few family names out of curiosity. I found my grandparents gravsite and other assorted things, and then something very strange. Apparently my father had written a letter to Time magazine and it was published. The letter was some vague political ranting but sounded very much like what his ideals were/are. This was published in the 1950s giving his full name and the city he lived in at the time, and is now archived online. Who would have known back then that this letter would live on and on?

I google my id a few times years ago and it took me to posts I had made here, but never my real name. I have never found anything under my real name.

When I googled my name (just for curiosity) it has me at my old address that we left 9 years ago. That may be good!

Real names just make it quicker. But even with a username a person can be found if the username is unique or if the searcher knows where the user posts. Add that to email addys and other info people let slip by and it's really not that hard to find someone and get the dirt on them.

Some people post so much (what they believe to be benign) info on their family posts and especially on the let's get to know each other type threads I could be right on your doorstep tomorrow if I were an evil person.

If someone wants to find information on/about you they can find it whether you ever posted on the internet or not.Just a fact of life in this day and age.Nothing is sacred anymore!

I don't use my real name in posts anywhere, ever.

The only place on the web where I use my real name is FB, and even that doesn't come up when you search for my name. (but even if it did, there is no real info there)

When I got my first phone, my info was available to whoever had a phone directory.

It is kind of like protecting your home from burglars, do the best you can. If it's hard to get in they find a place that's easy.

If they truly want you or in your home there is no stopping them.

I honestly don't know why you find this surprising. Anything published anywhere will probably have an online link these days.

So be very careful about what you write, publish, or just comment on on a forum.

Anyone can get it.

>> Because anything and everything can show up for months to come

Months to come? Nope - years to come. Forever. This isn't new news and shouldn't be a surprise in this technical age. It's old news. It's amazing what is online.

After reading this post, I googled my real name and was surprised about how much came up. It was three times the amount when I tried the same thing a year ago. Wow! Google is digging deep. I even saw a police rap sheet of a guy who has the same name as me - never before have I found someone with the same name when both the given and surname were hooked together.

Something else happened too. My name is on about 7 US patents and 5 of these popped up. That has never happened before.

You are right. It is information overload with search engines like google around.

I have googled my real name, both married and maiden name, and never find anything remotely connected to me.

However, if anything that has "ever been published" is out there I would love to find a poem I wrote back in the mid-forties. It was published in a newspaper in Washington, DC. I carried the only copy I had of it in my wallet until the wallet was stolen.

I've searched for it with no luck.

Sue

Sue - Email the archivist at the newspaper or go to the local DC library and search through their microfiche.

Well, I hope we don't get so paranoid that we don't stand up for anything! I don't want to live in Communist East Berlin, where you couldn't trust anyone not to be a spy.

I can't think of anything I've ever said or done that I would be scared to have anyone discover. (Just senile? LOL) Actually, it may be great to HAVE something 'in print' -- so it can't be twisted as easily.

I happened to google my maiden name a few days ago and found a poem I'd written over 30 years ago posted on the website of my employer at that time. Wow! I couldn't even remember writing it. Apparently the poem had a good message they wanted to share.

Bump.

For folks who may not have seen it earlier.

o j

Yup, no surprise there. A lot of stuff comes up if I Google my three names (first, maiden, last), and until recently I've been happy enough with it as it's mostly poetry and other writings. But now a lot of Facebook junk has been added. I guess it's my own fault for using my full name on Facebook, but I wanted to find old friends that way--and I did! So it was worth it.

Years ago I had a stalker, and I never used my maiden name at that time. But someone posted it in a poetry context and insisted they couldn't remove it. I was nervous for a time, but I guess the stalker must have found something else to do. (I hope.)

WildChild! If you show up at my front door, I'll invite you in, make tea and something yummy, and let you frolic with Sam and Harry!

I've found old, old posts from myself, and once I found a listing of every address I'd ever had. The only "mistake" was they had me listed as living in New York City. I wish!

It was from my old APO, NY address when I was stationed overseas.

Well, I am blown away by the number of people with my name... There are artists, doctors, and writers. But sadly, none of those are me. I am just plain ol plain jane me...