About a month ago, The Beautiful Kind was fired from her job after her employer discovered her blog [her webmaster wrote a great post about protecting your online privacy across a variety of social networking platforms that I highly recommend you read. But not until you finish reading this post!].  Her experience and perhaps her expectations prior to her firing got me thinking about how some of us blog.

My first blog, also called Hubman’s Hangout, was on Blogger in the fall of 2008.  The content wasn’t too dissimilar to this blog, but I also openly talked about my job.  I also made the mistake of logging into my blogger dashboard from work and even occasionally viewing my blog from work.  Considering that my internet use at work is monitored and attempted visits to inappropriate websites are logged and blocked, this wasn’t the smartest idea.  Realizing this, I deleted my old blog, moved to WordPress, and have been very careful about what info I leave on the work servers.

Many of us blog anonymously, for a variety of personal reasons, none of which really matter for the sake of this post.  But how anonymous are we, really?  What is the potential downside if your anonymity is compromised?  Are you prepared for the consequences?

Sometimes I think about these questions, especially with my Project365 posts.  Browse through the last 149 days worth of pictures and you’ll see glimpses of my house, my yard, my kids and Veronica and I.  A while back I posted a picture of a church steeple that I pass every day on my work commute.  A reader e-mailed me and said that while he lives on the west coast now, he grew up nearby and recognized the church.  I replied, naming the town to confirm with him, and he replied that yes, that is the town he grew up in.  This is a fairly innocuous incident, but it illustrates that you never know when you might share something that gives others a sliver of information that when added to other slivers amounts to a bit of personal detail.

Have you ever Googled yourself?

Someone, I forget who, recently suggested doing so in order to see if there are any links to your online persona that you’re not aware of.  That is what The Beautiful Kind’s former employer did and how they found her Twitter account and ultimately her blog.  I read some comments where people were grumbling about the invasion of privacy inherent in doing so.  But really, we’re choosing to share information in public forums, whether it’s on a blog, Twitter, Facebook or some other website.  Employers are looking out for their best interests and if we’re going to put info out there, why shouldn’t they use it?

But don’t take my word for it, let’s see what the HR chick aka Veronica has to say

Veronica: I am sure that many of you would not be surprised to learn that Veronica is not my real name.  When I got involved with being online in my CSI groups a few years ago, I decided to use a fake name. I did this mostly because I was afraid people would mock me if they understood the breadth and depth of my CSI obsession.   Now I am glad I started this habit as I have continued with it, since I would NEVER post half-nekkid photos of myself under my real name or talk about my lifestyle activities.   I am also reluctant to give out my real name or have Hubman give it out as my name is easily Googleable.

But as an HR Director, yeah we Google you.  When I am reading an application of someone we might bring in to interview the first thing I do is Google your name.  I combine it with the town you live in and also the name of your college or most recent job to see what I find.  99.9% of the time what I find is pretty innocuous.  I usually find little things like the fact you are on Facebook, or that maybe you wrote a letter to the editor or won a year’s supply of pie.

If I come up with something that I consider relevant on Google, like you were fired from your last three jobs for insubordination, I will probably disqualify you, but if I see anything that is work related that does not indicate your membership in a protected class that raises a red flag, I will just ask you about it at the interview.

Once an employee is hired, I personally never Google them again, because quite frankly I am a one woman HR department and don’t have the time.  However, there is always someone who has the time, and it could be someone that you have recently pissed off. Hubman: This reminds me of something- employers Google their employees or comb through their browsing history because they are looking for a reason.  Many of us can think of that co-worker who spends an inordinate amount of time surfing the web and perhaps isn’t that productive- don’t be that person and give management a reason.

One thing that I used to do when I worked in the private sector was periodically use the resume search on Monster.com to see how many employees had active resumes up there and how old they were.  If  I noticed one of our current employees on there, I would check into their file and see if they were being compensated properly and try to work and save them discreetly, if they were worth saving.   However, other people could use that information and be a total dick with it.

I tend to separate what people do on their own time from what they do at work, but then again the most ‘controversial’ thing I have found an employee participating in is being a vocal advocate for raw milk.   If I found out that someone from one of our departments was involved in something controversial, it might be a topic for discussion, especially since I work in the public sector.

All I can say is to Google yourself and your email address monthly and try to keep things separate.  If your good name has been sullied, here are some tips for cleaning your profile up.

I took that forgotten persons suggestion and Googled myself, both my full name and my full name coupled with “hubman”.  As expected, my real name generated quite a few hits due to my professional activities, but nothing when my name and “hubman” were combined in one search.

Veronica: I also Googled my real name and you get some HR stuff and some recipes I have had published. I also Googled my fake name, Veronica Diaz and learned that I am really a hot Brazilian Actress.

Mmm, hot Brazilian actress…