This is not one of my humorous postings. This post was prompted by an alert I received from the wrong twitter account. (Obviously I have two – one for “The Loon” and one of my own personal account.) Well I received notification that one of my siblings created an account. This bothered me because I know for a fact that this particular sibling barely have time for a Facebook account none the less a twitter account. Now I have to say this is not the first time that I received such a notification but it was never for family. As I suspected they DID NOT create such an account. Now here comes the daunting task of getting that baby taken down. That is my initial frustration. The other is that I have always spoken to those close to me about trying to stay on top of these things.

Now to be fair I am quite aware that the average person don’t have the means to afford a person (or team) to search for stuff like that on the internet like the celebrities do. (Trust me, I know. Bloggers don’t have those means either!) Yet you can do it yourself! I actually encourage that you do. I know that many have heard the question – “Have you ever Googled yourself?” No that is not a trick question. It’s actually a very important question. To be perfectly honest I truly didn’t take this question seriously until I started blogging (Almost two years ago.). To be honest until I started this particular blog. (I have had several failed attempts. Yet you keep trying.) It wasn’t because I did that search either but because a friend happened to come across a Facebook page with my information, even my picture that was from my profile me. At first I thought they were mistaken but sure enough after I did a search on my own I found it. I can say THAT page was taken down. It was not a good page either .

That was discovered by accident. Trolls have up their game. Now this is meant for anyone that uses the internet. Let me say this again – THIS IS MEANT FOR ANYONE THAT USES THE INTERNET. Whether you are a person trying to grow a business, grow you as a label, just have a social media page to keep in touch with those that are close to you but not so near, even if you have family online. You should try to search yourself. I myself don’t do it enough. Yet I do when I launch something new. (I know practice what you preach!).

The world is cruel place, the internet is even worst. Now when there is so much “Fake News” going out there. They might even be a “Fake You”. If you are a user of Facebook you know this to be true. Think about it. How many times have you received a friend request from someone that is already your friend? How many times have you received a notification on Twitter that someone you know just opened an account with that egg profile? I could only speak for those accounts because those are the ones that I work most closely with. Cloned accounts.

Now you may think that these accounts are harmless but would them come up if someone makes a search on you? Are you willing to risk it? A search on you is more common by others than you think. And sometimes it’s not enough to search just your name. If you ever changed your name (For whatever reason.) It’s important to do a search on that as well. Because I blog and I write it’s important for me to make sure that my name is not out there negatively. Yet this should not be the reason. Those that are close to me have received many a notification from me stating that I found this or that and is this actually them.

Why this is done? I couldn’t tell you but it is. the internet is another tool to sabotage someone. Bully them! Or just to be downright mean. There are steps you can take to protect yourself.

• On occasion do a search on yourself (Your loved ones as well)
• If you find something say something to the administrators or host of that site. (Now this may take sometime but no more time than when you are trying to clear up your credit report)
• ***This is the most important part*** Don’t make your personal information public for all to know.

What do I mean by that last part? Because I use Facebook so often I will have to use that as an example. There is no need for everyone to know my e-mail address, phone number and where I live. That is what is called providing phishing information. I don’t even have my birthday or relationship status posted. Those that need to know now it. These are ways you can use to protect yourself.

You really don’t want your name associated with anything without your knowledge. Whether you are an artist, a blogger, or just having fun. Make sure that the you that is out there is really you. Surf safely!

The Loon