Doing a Dig
It really struck me that my first thought of doing a "digital dig" on myself was almost a cringe!
Just thinking about past Facebook pictures or MySpace posts...I wasn't totally sure what I'd even find! I also found it silly that something so simple would give me this internal cringe. So I decided why not just jump in and see what I find?
I started with a basic Google search to see what I could find. Just to get the ball rolling. I was actually pleasantly surprised with what I saw.
Initially, my dietitian information with my private practice group back home in Chicago (I just moved out to California a few weeks ago!) popped up. I got a chuckle out of the small photo of the foods, and honestly not totally sure where that came from. When I saw the photos associated with Google images, the only one that was actually me, was the third one in. I had no clue how it even got to Google. After clicking on it, turns out that was from a VERY old Twitter account I had back in high school (there were maybe two tweets and one included this photograph). After doing a search on "Natalie Van Beek" (adding in the quotation marks), more of my professional presence popped up. I saw my name pop up on healthprofs.com which I found really interesting too. My Portrait Health Centers introduction and Yelp page came up as well. I did see a Facebook link generate as well. However, I do make sure my Facebook page is quite private, so nothing specific about me came up when I clicked on the link. Seeing that this wasn't so bad, I decided to dig a bit more into my digital presence and tried out Intelius.
At first, I wondered whether I should put in my previous zip code or new one. I started with my Illinois-based zip code and what popped up? Some interesting stuff for sure! For starters, I found it interesting what my work information reflected. The jobs shown were definitely not my most recent jobs! I also thought it was quite interesting about how much information regarding my sister (Elly) came up. She hasn't lived in Chicago for many many years, and thought that the fact she came up in the search with my old Chicago zip code was intriguing.
I did complete a second search on my new California zip code, and while information popped up, none of it had anything to with me (even the names that came up were ones I had zero association with).
I checked out Radaris only to find there was 0 records of a Natalie Van Beek, but many Natalie Beek's...interesting indeed. 🤔
I feel that keep tabs on ones' digital tattoo and doing semi-regular data mines on yourself could be really helpful from a professional standpoint. When I was searching for a new job, I remember doing a very basic search, just to ensure that what came up in Yahoo! or Google searches was, in fact, me, and not a different person with the same/similar name. Keeping tabs on this can help when searching for a job to ensure nothing questionable is coming up when your name is put through a search. I also think it is important to keep tabs on for the purpose of INCREASING your digital tattoo. For example, as I mentioned earlier, I keep my Facebook quite private. This is partially for my own confidentiality but also confidentiality issues when I consider my clients/past clients. I don't want to risk any conflict of interests or unethical issues coming up, so I prefer to keep my social media pages very minimal to the public while allowing more access to my professional pages such as my LinkedIn page. Being mindful of what is out there and what is not is so important for our professional and personal lives.
I encourage you to do a digital dig on yourself and share what you found! Anything interested or surprised you? Share!
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I started with a basic Google search to see what I could find. Just to get the ball rolling. I was actually pleasantly surprised with what I saw.
 |
| Source |
At first, I wondered whether I should put in my previous zip code or new one. I started with my Illinois-based zip code and what popped up? Some interesting stuff for sure! For starters, I found it interesting what my work information reflected. The jobs shown were definitely not my most recent jobs! I also thought it was quite interesting about how much information regarding my sister (Elly) came up. She hasn't lived in Chicago for many many years, and thought that the fact she came up in the search with my old Chicago zip code was intriguing.
 |
| Source |
I checked out Radaris only to find there was 0 records of a Natalie Van Beek, but many Natalie Beek's...interesting indeed. 🤔
I feel that keep tabs on ones' digital tattoo and doing semi-regular data mines on yourself could be really helpful from a professional standpoint. When I was searching for a new job, I remember doing a very basic search, just to ensure that what came up in Yahoo! or Google searches was, in fact, me, and not a different person with the same/similar name. Keeping tabs on this can help when searching for a job to ensure nothing questionable is coming up when your name is put through a search. I also think it is important to keep tabs on for the purpose of INCREASING your digital tattoo. For example, as I mentioned earlier, I keep my Facebook quite private. This is partially for my own confidentiality but also confidentiality issues when I consider my clients/past clients. I don't want to risk any conflict of interests or unethical issues coming up, so I prefer to keep my social media pages very minimal to the public while allowing more access to my professional pages such as my LinkedIn page. Being mindful of what is out there and what is not is so important for our professional and personal lives.
I encourage you to do a digital dig on yourself and share what you found! Anything interested or surprised you? Share!
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