A bad review read 10 years after the fact still stings - just a little…

“What happens on the internet stays on the internet. Forever.”

I was just reading an article written by Peter Risman (that’s its title “What Happens on the Internet Stays on the Internet. Forever“). It came in a newsletter I get from a company called isound.com. The article suggested that I should go to google and type in my first and last name in double quotes and then see if there is anything I wouldn’t want a prospective employer or in-law to see. Yikes.

Of course I did it - with that kind of scary tactic who wouldn’t? I was pleasantly surprised that nothing painfully embarrassing came up but I did find one thing that hurt a little bit. I found a review that I had never seen before - it was written ten years ago about one of my films (it was showing at a film fest at the time)- and it described the film as “annoying”.

Ouch.

So should we all be afraid of what we type into the Internet for fear that it will haunt us in the future? Or, as in my example above - should we fear ever action in case someone decides to document it on the Internet on our behalf?  

Is this post that I am writing right now going to be held against me for future employment now that I’ve exposed a bad review of a film that I made ten years ago? Or, because I make my living as a freelance writer, should I edit the heck out of each blog post so that my grammatical errors don’t turn a google happy employer off? What if they go to my band’s myspace site and listen to me swearing in one of my songs? 

Well, I think I could argue that if you are honest about who you are then who cares? Should we all constantly edit ourselves and censor ourselves personally so that we can prosper professionally? Do we really need to worry about an “online brand identity”? Probably. But I don’t like it. 

Oh, and a tip for anyone out there who wants a clean start on the Internet: change your name! This was an unexpected bonus when I decided to take my husband’s last name. I just wanted a last name that was easy to spell and pronounce for a change. A few months later I realized I had actually been given a new identity - a clean slate. Tip: try to marry someone with a really common name like “Smith” or “Johnson”* because then it’s really hard to find you on google. 

In 1998, I don’t even think I had an email address and I certainly didn’t have easy access to the internet. In fact my “annoying” film was actually shot on real film - not very common any more… wow now I think I’m more upset that I’m so old… uh-oh I probably just lost a few jobs because now they know I’m “old” (whatever that means). 

* (Smith and Johnson are the two most common US surnames http://genealogy.about.com/library/weekly/aa_common_surnames.htm)