meysterr
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
# Posts: 7
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Posted: 06/26/2007 02:14 pm
Hello:
About 7 years ago I made the stupid mistake of posting to this forum using my full name and didn't have the foresight to realize that my name would then be searchable, even years later.
This post I'm referring to is at the top of the search rankings for my name, and I'm finding that having my name searchable in these posts is really hurting me, and limiting my ability to get hired by companies. I was trying to find if there was any way I could get a hold of a moderator here who would have access to delete this post, preferably the whole old profile.
We're talking about a post that's 7 years old, and its value to the forum would certainly have been diminished by now, if any users even see it.
I've emailed the various tech people and IM'ed a couple moderators, and John Cokos, and haven't heard anything.
Is there anyone who can help me with this?
R
[ Message was edited by: meysterr 06/26/2007 02:40 pm ]
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g1smd
Moderator
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10181
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Posted: 06/26/2007 02:58 pm
John is the only one who can action this.
I would ping him again. It's his decision.
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meysterr
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
# Posts: 7
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Posted: 06/26/2007 03:21 pm
Do you know if there's a good way to reach John, besides PM? I tried PM'ing over the weekend and didn't hear back, and when I try to call the iWeb phone number, I get a constant "All Circuits are Busy" from my cell phone, no matter what time of day, and from a landline, I get "Your call cannot be completed"
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mj1256
Joined: Jun 05, 2006
# Posts: 804
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Posted: 06/26/2007 04:54 pm
hey, I have an old post from '99 or so which keeps popping up on the SE's I'd like it to go away too!
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meysterr
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
# Posts: 7
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Posted: 06/26/2007 07:06 pm
Well, seems trivial, but if you were asking some stupid questions 7 years ago and were following the lead of money making gurus and had a website that wasn't the most reputable of business models, and you were getting turned down for interviews w/ companies today based on that, you'd want it deleted too.
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mj1256
Joined: Jun 05, 2006
# Posts: 804
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Posted: 06/26/2007 07:53 pm
I hear you meysterr, but this is the trend of the internet now, we all are paying for all the info we have put out there about ourselves over the years. Mine was just a stupid question and I was flamed pretty bad for it. I wish I knew then what i know now.
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dudibob
Joined: Oct 13, 2005
# Posts: 1430
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Posted: 06/27/2007 04:09 am
*cough http://seoblackhat.com/2007/05/22/this-will-go-down-on-your-permanent-record/ cough*
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g1smd
Moderator
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10181
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Posted: 06/27/2007 04:58 pm
LOL. Too true.
Problem is, even when you know the full name, are you sure that you are looking at the right person? For some names there will be literally thousands of people with the exact same name in the same country, and maybe hundreds of thousands, or millions, worldwide.
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meysterr
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
# Posts: 7
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Posted: 06/27/2007 08:32 pm
Yeeeeeaaaahh, we're talking about an uncommon enough name and if a hiring official or person doing research for a hiring official bothered enough to read into those listings (profile, etc), they'd see the city where I signed up, that really cuts down the odds that it wouldn't be me. Actually, those old sites still have my Alexa contact info, although the archives are cleaned out.
The only real remnants of what I was doing were in that post where some people gave me some (deservedly so) scathing comments where they explained everything I was doing and what was wrong with it.
It's been resolved though; John got back to me today and took care of it. I'm glad a stupid mistake and disreputable website venture won't come back to bite me with potential employers now, but I imagine everyone isn't so lucky. Thanks for the feedback on this guys.
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formerskeptic
Joined: Oct 05, 2001
# Posts: 281
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Posted: 06/27/2007 09:38 pm
Isn't it interesting though, how easy it is now for employers to get information on your "character" before seeing you face to face?
Think about it. On your CV, you put down all the desirable traits that you think will get you a pat on the back and a further, "Welcome aboard John". But given the powers that be, employers are now armed with an arsenal of profile search engines, from myspace to hi5, that can easily decipher your REAL character from the one pasted on your CV.
I mean having porn all over your profile doesn't quite paint a pretty picture now does it? Especially, if you're seeking a corporate job that's bound to have a few women with "above-than-normal" levels of Testosterone 
People really need to wise up and stay as far away from "the program" as possible 
[ Message was edited by: formerskeptic 06/28/2007 01:04 am ]
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SportsGuy
Moderator
Joined: Aug 30, 2002
# Posts: 3593
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Posted: 06/28/2007 05:43 pm
...but if a company is willing to NOT give you a job because of something you clearly posted years ago (posts are time stamped, after all), and they refuse to acknowledge your growth since then as a positive thing, do you really want to work for them?
Bottom line remains, however:
Chances are very slim that a forum will remove old posts on request. It's mostly a question of, "If I give you a chip, I'll have to give one to everyone..."
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Hampstead
Joined: Feb 20, 2001
# Posts: 1996
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Posted: 06/29/2007 04:14 am
I've just searched your name Frank, and I can't find anything in the first couple of pages.
You must be getting localised results.
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Hampstead
Joined: Feb 20, 2001
# Posts: 1996
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Posted: 06/29/2007 04:15 am
Hold on - I get it. The name in your profile isn't your real name.
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bhartzer
Administrator
Joined: Jun 08, 2000
# Posts: 7035
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Posted: 06/29/2007 05:47 am
PM me the URL of the post in question and I will take a look at it. Generally speaking, though, if the post doesn't violate our terms of service then the post will stay.
We only remove or edit posts that violate the terms of service of this forum.
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meysterr
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
# Posts: 7
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Posted: 06/29/2007 05:51 am
John deleted it for me the other day. The results wll of course show up in Yahoo and Google for a little longer but once it's updated, and the SE's realize the page isn't there, the listing and it's cache will be gone. That's good enough for me. Thanks.
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Curt
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 3689
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Posted: 06/29/2007 03:08 pm
Hmmm, guess I can't change my name  hmmm...
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meysterr
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
# Posts: 7
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Posted: 06/29/2007 05:49 pm
Yeah, that's one of those wierd things I noticed. You can change your name on your profile, but your name as it was posted on a previous post, before the change, stays the way it is on the post.
Additionally, there are some other things you can't change in your profile, like "from" city and website that you entered. They're even optional fields, yet they follow you for the life of your handle. I would fill these in with extreme caution, if at all.
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Curt
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 3689
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Posted: 07/05/2007 09:23 pm
Actually, you should be able to change your residence (or location of business) and your URL of your site. I haven't changed mine in a while, but when I wanted to change/remove that info in the past, I was able to.
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flyingrose
Moderator
Joined: Oct 30, 2003
# Posts: 3361
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Posted: 07/17/2007 01:06 pm
The enormous amount of information being compiled on each person has a far deeper impact than most will realize until it bites them personally.
Hopefully all this information may lead to a desirable increase in tolerance of other's views on every subject. Given the high level of intolerance that currently exists, I hope that moderators will consider these types of requests.
Until then, the only people who are free to express their true selves online (or publicly off-line) are those not concerned with being employable.
Even then there are potential ramifications to every link we share or thought we post. Imagine if every word you ever uttered was recorded and available online.
I wish I could remember who supposedly said on their deathbed that if they had it to do all over again they'd make more mistakes, faster.
Life is a learning experience. The more mistakes we make the more we learn. Holding mistakes against others is unwise.
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meysterr
Joined: Jun 26, 2007
# Posts: 7
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Posted: 07/17/2007 01:22 pm
And companies are likely to pass over a candidate who they know just a few not-so-flattering things about, for a candidate who they know nothing about.
They automatically assume that knowing nothing about a candidate means that everything that *could* be learned about him is good.
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