21,300 Google hits

I admit it. I'm one of those people who gets a kick out of Googling themselves every now and again. Today's result: 21,300 hits for Amy Poppinga and 229 for "Amy Poppinga." If the first few pages are any indication, most of the results for "Amy Poppinga" are about me. I have to say I'm flattered, but then again this little exercise does raise some Internet privacy concerns for me.

In the Life section of today's Argus Leader, the featured story is "Everything we want to know about you, courtesy of the Web." Although the story was not filled with as many "oh-crap" moments as I thought it might have, it did once again remind me of how open information is on the Internet.

For example, the article mentions two Web sites: pipl.com and zabbasearch.com that I had never heard of before. These sites dig up as much information as they can about you and display it for anyone who types in your name. My pipl.com page was filled, not surpisingly, with stories I had written for The Collegian or this blog. I was surprised to find, however, a 2003 Keloland story that I had been quoted in. I'm certainly not ashamed of the things I said in that story, but I was really surprised that the Kelo story is still floating around. I guess that just proves that once something is on the Internet, it will probably be around for a long, long time.

My zabbasearch.com profile was actually quite dull. It didn't even have my correct address. But it was creepy that the site correctly identified the addresses (and past addresses) of my siblings and relatives. Let's just hope I don't have any stalkers!

Moral of the story: protect yourself on the Web. Facebook users, make sure to set privacy settings and don't put things up that you don't want potential employers to see. And everyone in general, be smart. Don't post things that you are not comfortable with sharing to millions of people. Pipl are watching.