

How to remove a Digital Tattoo - Murkin
http://blog.itlater.com/digital-tattoo/

======
synnik
It isn't us older professional folk who really have to worry. It is the 13-15
year old crowd. If you thought what you said at 18 was embarrassing, try the
things you said at 13.

These kids will be seeking jobs some day, and guess what will come back?

My wife taught middle/high school, and we always wanted the kids to remember
one thing. "If you post it online, it is public. Forever."

Even if not technically accurate, it is a safe mantra to follow.

~~~
rue
You must remember that the people doing the hiring will not be the same in 10
years, either. Admittedly, the transition period to an "internet-
understanding" management-age workforce is probably still 15-20 years off.

------
scott_s
More and more people will have this problem in the future, which also means
more and more people will probably be more understanding of it. I think that
our culture's attitude will shift to be more tolerant of permanent, public
statements from one's youth.

~~~
seldo
I think a better and more pro-active approach is to completely own one's past.
My blog goes all the way back to shitty poetry I wrote and delusional
statements of grandeur I made when I was 15. As far as I'm concerned, all they
indicate is that I've come a long since way since then.

~~~
scott_s
That's not easy to do in retrospect - both because the technology may not have
existed to do so (automated blogs), or the content may be scattered in many
places (message boards, listservs, etc.).

Also, you may control the source, but not its dissemination. Once your stuff
makes its way onto archive.org, removing it from your won blog won't make a
difference.

~~~
zinkem
I think he means 'own' in the sense that he openly acknowledges his past and
isn't ashamed of it, not that he has control over the information itself.

~~~
scott_s
Ah, you are right. I guess I didn't see that because I don't see that is in
opposition to what I said.

------
omergertel
There should be a startup to provide anonymity through clutter. By creating
fake identities with your name, you could make Google search less effective.
This will neutralize most of the results, as the searcher will no longer know
which of these sites is really yours.

~~~
chaosmachine
There are a few. Here's a popular one:

<http://www.reputationdefender.com/>

------
lsc
If you won't forgive me for saying dumb shit years ago, I'm not so sure I want
to be your friend anyhow.

Generally, I think making sure that there are good things associated with your
name helps to drown out the bad things.

~~~
aasarava
> If you won't forgive me for saying dumb shit years ago, I'm not so sure I
> want to be your friend anyhow.

The problem is that if you decide go into public service and run for office,
your opponents won't forgive you. They'll be more than happy to dig up that
one tiny moment when you were off guard ten years ago, take it out of context,
and hold it up as an example of how you must really feel about the topic du
jour.

~~~
Hexstream
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpBzQI_7ez8>

"Obama: You know, when I was a kid... I inhaled frequently. That was the
point."

------
ryanelkins
This seems like more of a problem when you have a more obscure name. I think
Google is becoming less and less effective as more and more people use the
internet and you get name collisions. It becomes harder to tell if the person
whose name you googled is the actual person being referenced or not. At one
point I knew all the links on the first page of Google were me - now it's
about half. The less you use your real name the more that helps as well as the
other people who share your name float to the top.

------
ErrantX
I regularly say stupid things online. _shrug_ Most of those I might have
offended forgave me long ago (and eventually the current ones will).

My hit/miss ratio has improved so it's less of a problem now.

I guess the only concern is if you hit the media spotlight for any reason
someone is sure to dig up something disingenuous.

(Im lucky; someone a little more high profile shares my name and hogs google
for me :D)

------
ryandvm
Also known as "be careful what you post when your name is Boris Dinkevich".

------
DanielBMarkham
For all of you saying "well, other people will also have done the same thing,
so it won't matter" or "if you don't understand and forgive me for stupid
stuff I did when I was 12, then you're not worth having as a boss", etc.

This is rationalizing. The problem is that people are only too willing to NOT
forgive you for stupid stuff they did themselves, only didn't get caught at
it. So yes, perhaps there will be lots of "cool" places where everybody has a
colorful public past, but you can better damn be certain that there will be
lots of places where people didn't leave their dirty laundry around on the
internet.

I'm not saying I like it. I'm saying that expecting other people to cut you
some slack because basically, well, we're all screwed up at one time or
another -- that's whacked. People have known that we're all screwed up for
centuries. Hasn't changed the nature of mankind at all. I seriously doubt the
internet is going to change that.

