Googling Myself

Hello, everyone.

My name is Jacob Henderson. You can google me if you’d like. I did, and it was amazing to see how many other Jacob Henderson’s there are out in the world. By ‘amazing’ I also mean frightening. I was scrolling through the images and saw quite a wide range of people with my name. Most of them were kind of scary looking people. I noticed there were many mugshots, but none of them were me, so that was reassuring. When I looked through the articles it was cool to see that the first three were actually about the Jacob Henderson that I know- me! The first was my Facebook page and the other two dealt with football at Chadron State College.

The reason why I did this is because I need to see what a future employer may see when they search for my name on the internet. It is crazy how much can be found by simply typing his or her name into a simple search engine. That is the power of technology. Too many people these days do not watch what is being posted on their social media accounts to see what is appropriate or not when it comes to others trying to find out who they really are as a person, such as a future employer. I guess millennials tend to live in the moment and do not think about this sort of thing, but they should really begin to do so.

So, the first thing that popped up on google when I searched ‘Jacob Henderson’ was my Facebook profile. All it took was one click and someone who I have never met in my life can find out who I am and what I am all about as a person. It is kind of a scary thought, but I am comfortable with it. That is the price you pay with technology- no privacy. Whatever you post about is there forever. Even if it is deleted it can still be found.

I guess I would like to give a warning to anyone who reads this. That warning is simple- be careful. Do not post any information that you would not want a stranger, or even your best friend, to know. Things like your address, credit card information, social security number, etc. This may seem very elementary to most people, but as a millennial myself it is crazy to see what people throw out onto the internet with no thought whatsoever. To you parents who may not be familiar with social media and the internet, please research and stay up-to-date with technology. Teach your kids how to act appropriately and safely online. A lot of kids may show a completely different side of themselves online than they do in person.