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May 07, 2007
Digital Dirt
Do you have a MySpace, Facebook or Friendster profile? If so, you need to find your "digital dirt." Digital dirt is the information about you that is available on the internet. This can include postings to others' websites, information about your likes, dislikes, and hobbies, photos, profiles, rants, raves and resumes. This trail of information that you leave behind is usually in plain view for others, including prospective employers, to see.
It is becoming more and more common for legal employers to look at social-networking sites in order to qualify job prospects before calling them in to interview. According to Gina Rubel, Esq., owner of Furia Rubel Communications, Inc., there are five steps to take to clean up your digital dirt.
1. Narcisurf - Search for your name on the internet to find your digital dirt. Search for information about yourself in every way possible (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, etc.).
2. Clean your profiles - Go to every site on which you have a profile that you can control and clean it up! Make sure everything on that profile is 100% accurate. Then make sure that if you have posted something, you would not be ashamed to forward it to your grandmother or future employer to read or see.
3. Ask to be removed - If you have a posting on a site that you can't control, contact the site's webmaster and ask that your post be removed.
4. Fill in the spaces with clean dirt - Sometimes irremovable dirt can be covered up a bit with clean dirt. Crowd your internet profile search with positive information about you or your studies.
5. Monitor yourself - Set up a Google alert with your name included. This way you know what's being said by and about you.
Remember - every nugget of information that you post or that someone posts about you on the internet can last for many years to come!
Posted by cld30 at May 7, 2007 02:39 PM