Accidentally Angela

Does Google know you? Just for grins and giggles last night I decided to Google myself and see if the search engine knew anything about me. As it turns out the answer to that is: Yes! There is a lot of info about me, some of which really surprised me. I will kinda walk through my Google results and we’ll talk about my reaction to them.

The first thing listed is a networking site I am a part of, Linked In. Actually there were 4 Linked In results, only 2 of them were partly accurate. My job is listed correctly. Nothing strange there.

The next result after these was business related also. I was listed with a networking group I am associated with. Enough info for someone to contact me about the group, no problems there.

The next one was a website you could pay a fee to supposedly get all of my contact information: email, home address, business and phone numbers. The site promises “Everything!” for a fee of $2.95 a month or $39.95 for even more information, this would include my criminal background check. I knew these kind of sites were out there, just never though about my information being on them. This one was a little unsettling. I’m not paying the fee, but doubt they have all of it figured out. They might though. Hmmmmm…..

I really feel weird about the next one. I am just like everybody, occasionally I will give to a good cause. That happened at an event one December and I shared a small monetary gift with a group. Guess what? That’s in Google too. The group listed all their donors on a website page. If they had asked I would have said to list me anonymously. They didn’t ask. I will be contacting them to remove me from this very public list. I am not comfortable with this particular entry.

One of my blog entries is next on the list, the recent one I did with pictures I entitled “Azaleas in Wonderland” found by the category it is in, Spring. I like that this is on the list. I want people to read my blog. You know….people like you . I’m A-ok with this one.

The next result was a dud, but the one after that was again a little unsettling. I had a friend to pass away who was very young. He was in his early 30′s. I had not seen him for a few years, he and my kids were friends when they were teenagers. I knew he had moved away in the last few years and they only heard from him 2 or 3 times. When we found out he had passed away, I went online and wrote a note to his family as we all use to be pretty close but I didn’t have any current contact information for them. Yep, you guessed it. My note to the family is stored on the funeral home website and came up in my search of me. It even said what number my comment was out of all the comments. Like 15/55 kind of description. This was weird to me. Just not right.

Next, another strange one. I knew when I signed into some websites with my Facebook info that my information could be pulled. What I didn’t know was that at least one of these kind of websites makes a member page and puts our info in a descriptive form and it can be harvested off of it. Thankfully I don’t have my contact information listed on Facebook or it would be in this site. The most they got was my description of myself, a few books and movies I like and that I am an Agent/Office Manager. It could have been worse. Mostly just bothered me because there has not been anything on this website that told me they had made this page about me. That part I don’t like at all.

The next couple weren’t me, then there was one that states I am a donor, again, for something different. It is for a historical landmark and I knew I was listed on their website as a donor. This one I don’t mind. It is a very different thing from the first donation listed. Then there were several other wrong ones, then one more for this blog which turns out to just bring someone to this site and shows whatever the current post is. Another one I liked.

The third page had one blog link and another that did end up being me. I made a comment 2 years ago about my local farmer’s market. I had forgotten all about it, but Google hasn’t. It’s still out there to be seen and read.

Over all it was interesting to Google myself. I am definitely surprised by what information is out there, but that is because I am an active participant of the Internet. I’m sure it wasn’t very much info compared to others, it was mostly odd that it seemed so random. I do admit that I Googled Boyfriend in the early weeks of our relationship. I had known him for a few years, but his history still had a lot of holes in it. Mostly his information was about a recent home purchase he had made before we started dating, and a couple of other little things but nothing much. He doesn’t have much of an Internet presence, and he likes it that way.

What about you? Have you ever done this? Googled yourself or searched for your Internet information? Did some of it seem strange to you too? Let me know, we can share tidbits later! I would be quite fascinated to know what you find out. Have a great week folks, Angela

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