I don’t want to repeat this anymore, so let me direct you elsewhere.
I got an e-mail from a young aspiring journalist, still in high school and already coming to the questions I just started coming upon late in college. Her question:
how do you buy spaces on a google seerch?
Hey, even she will tell you that I told her to work on her grammar and spelling. (Oh, word processors, what have you done to us?).
But more importantly, it made me realize I never wrote the obligatory “own your name in Google” post. I have surely touched on it in previous posts, but rather than repurpose that information or rewrite what has been written so many times, I say to young reporter or fresh-on-the-web journalist, find out why branding your name online matters, and then read the following – because they’ve already done the job.
Somewhat relatedly, lots of posts I’ve read have focused on what that branding should be (and whether it really matters):
- BrianJamesKirk: Confessions of a Writer I Drink Beer and Network Socially
- Colin Lenton: Photos, Personal History and Facebook
I’ve written about using social networks to develop more control on a Web search of your name:
- The End is Here: Christopher Wink Just Joined Facebook
- Check me out on MySpace: why I am selling out
- Your digital legacy: we know your wild past won’t forget, but who doesn’t?
OK, that should answer your questions. Have anymore? Let me know below.