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Finding yourself: Here's the right way to Google yourself

Sometimes we do it for fun, but it’s worth checking what results come up online in case there’s something

GOOGLING YOUR OWN name used to look like the ultimate vanity step, but really, it’s more important than ever as prospective employers and sometimes random strangers want to find out more about you.

Sometimes, a first impression is based around these searches for whatever reason so when that happens, you want to put the best foot forward.

The best ways to check

Look in incognito/private mode

The simple reason for this is when you check up Google normally, it uses your browser cookies and personal info (if signed in to a Google service) to bring up relevant results. Searching from incognito/private mode starts you off with a blank slate and gives you results likely based on what someone else will see.

If you want to take things a step further, you could ask a family member or friend to search for you normally

Try out different combinations

Googling your full name is one thing, but it’s worth considering is variations so your name and location, or usernames for certain accounts are worth checking. While it’s unlikely that usernames will link back to your main profiles, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

If you’re checking a specific site, then adding tags will help narrow down your search. For example, if you put ‘site:thejournal.ie’ and then your search term, Google will limit its search to that site alone.

Check the links

Just because you’re appearing on search results doesn’t mean that people will be able to access your info. Sites like Facebook allow you to check what your profile looks like to strangers, friends and those who are on the site but not friends with you.

Check Alerts

Google has its own alerts tool which can alert you any time you’re mentioned online. Although this mightn’t apply to many people, it’s useful to have should you believe your name will come up in future.

Even if you don’t, it has set up a feature called Me on the Web, which allows you to check mentions (provided you’re signed in to your Google account).

Google Alerts Google Alerts Google Alerts

What can you do?

So you have a decent idea of what the public can see, then it’s time to take some action. More often than not, the majority of information that will come up will relate to your own social media profiles, but if not, here’s what to do.

Change privacy settings for social media accounts

The basic one, assuming you want to keep your profiles, is to limit just how much people can see when they visit your profiles. Some like Facebook allow you to pick and choose what can be seen by whom, while others like Twitter or Instagram go for a all or nothing approach.

If you want to take it a step further, you can delete your account entirely although you should remember that deactivating your account isn’t the same thing.

If it’s a third-party site?

Then you will need to get in touch with the people behind it directly. Depending on the site, this could either be straightforward or a mess, the latter is more apparent for those sites which are no longer active.

The more details you have about it (links to said content, explaining why you would like for it to be removed), the better. It can be hit and miss depending on the site – an inactive site

If it’s particularly serious case (defamation), you could apply to Google to be removed from its search results. Although, the drawback to this is it only removes the link to said page and for a specific search term like your name. It doesn’t actually get rid of the page mind.

Read: Teenager arrested for Xbox and Playstation Christmas attacks >

Read: This is why Google is going back to the drawing board with Glass >

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5 Comments
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:30 PM

    Crush their cars and rip up the driving licences while you’re at it…

    702
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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:43 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: have you still got a licence that you could rip?

    66
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    Mute jenni
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:58 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: I wouldn’t crush that Lamborghini…but tbh I would have bothered buying a lambo in Ireland. Other than motorways, the roads are shi?e.

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    Mute Michael Powell
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:02 PM

    @jenni: what Lamborghini?

    44
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:08 PM

    @jenni: Looks like a UK Reg Ferrari…

    Though probably just a Toyota MR2 with a bodykit…

    67
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:09 PM

    @David Dickson: Old Skool!

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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:18 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: just like the guards with their mph.

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    Mute David Edwards
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:11 PM

    @jenni: it’s a Ferrari alright and impound and crush laws like Australia wouldn’t go astray here I’d say

    32
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    Mute Stephen Foster
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:49 PM

    @jenni: looks more like a Ferrari 288 GTO. Good ole Magnam PI.

    18
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    Mute ウィリアム はげ
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:22 PM

    @Stephen Foster: you’d have to be very brave or stupid to do 178km in that old piece of junk though. Most likely that was the micra in the background.

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    Mute Jack
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    Jun 4th 2018, 11:01 PM

    @ウィリアム はげ: 178 is 110 in old money. Any Ferrari is well capable of safely handling that speed. Especially on a motorway. Even lesser Ferrari’s like the 288

    9
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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:37 PM

    “The car caught speeding, drink driving, and driving the wrong way around a roundabout in Donegal”
    Wait till that car gets home the owner will batter it for messing about. No petrol for a month.

    220
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    Mute Jonathan Power
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:21 AM

    @David Dickson: he was probably practicing for the rally next weekend. That does be carnage around town bits of cars everywhere

    11
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    Mute Alan Lynch
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:27 PM

    160kph on a motorway is nothing to any modern car. Motorway speed limits need to be revised

    189
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    Mute Finbarr Lucey
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:10 PM

    It’s nothing to a modern car but it’s the idiot behind the wheel doing that speed would cause an accident.

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    Mute kevinhunt101
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:23 PM

    @Finbarr Lucey: on a straight road it’s grand with not much traffic. A good car doesn’t feel like it’s even going that fast

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    Mute Van Transport Johnny O'Connor
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:58 PM

    @Alan Lynch: nothing until you need to stop in a hurry

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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:05 PM

    @Van Transport Johnny O’Connor: Or a sheep walks across the road.

    21
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    Mute heavyhits
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:40 PM

    @Alan Lynch: Irish drivers are very specific, so better keep the limits.

    3
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:41 AM

    @Alan Lynch: no they don’t. The speed limits take account of a lot more factors than the cars capabilities.

    1
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    Mute Dotty Dunleary
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    Jun 5th 2018, 10:39 AM

    @Alan Lynch: No they don’t and you’re completely wrong!

    A BMW. Audi, Merc etc,. etc. may well be able to comfortably cruise at 160kph, however the Irish motorway isn’t designed to safely handle cars traveling at that velocity.

    Irish M roads are basically dual carriageways with a higher speed limit. Autobahn’s they are not!

    4
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    Mute Mark Boyle
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    Jun 5th 2018, 1:06 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: What’s the difference between an Irish motorway and a German one?

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    Mute Alan Lynch
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    Jun 5th 2018, 1:50 PM

    @Dotty Dunleary: to say I’m “completely wrong” is a bit off.
    The majority of modern cars are built to easily crack 160kph. I’m not saying that should be the limit but 130-140 is perfectly responsible in my opinion.

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    Mute SlinkyDog
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:43 PM

    Are we still using mph?

    89
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    Mute William Kelly
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    Jun 5th 2018, 6:38 AM

    @SlinkyDog: yes, we are still using mph, a lot.
    All the UK imports & N.I vehicles have mph speedos, with kph in lower case.

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    Mute John Flood
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    Jun 5th 2018, 6:43 AM

    @SlinkyDog: the UK chose to keep imperial measurements, I think we should have too. The EU extended the choice to us but we kept metric.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:09 AM

    @John Flood: No. We are Europeans, not backward facing English.

    23
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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:14 PM

    The Nardai must have been dizzy tailing that guy round the roundabout.
    But then again, when a Nard is dizzy, a Nard is bizzy What?

    48
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:45 AM

    @Gareth Cooney: Nardai!! I hope that’s your Da in the profile picture and you’re just a little kid. If not then you’re an idiot

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    Mute Frank Dubogovik
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:29 PM

    my old qashqai couldn’t even get up to that speed

    41
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    Mute Jonathan Power
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:23 AM

    @Frank Dubogovik: you’re lucky there terrible top heavy dreadful handling you’d flip it turn it over

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    Mute John Murphy
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:57 PM

    Weeeeeeeeeeeeee !!!!

    20
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    Mute Joseph Molloy
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:45 PM

    The Gardas should be out everyday. They are waste

    30
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    Mute Michael Powell
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:03 PM

    @Joseph Molloy: they are 24hr 365days a year. You just worry about collecting your dole once a week.

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jun 4th 2018, 8:25 PM

    @Joseph Molloy: not enough of them

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    Mute David Edwards
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:46 PM

    @Michael Powell: to be fair I’ve been living in Ireland full time since 2008 and have been breath tested once, there’s no deterrent here, in Melbourne 3/4 times a month wouldn’t even unusual

    12
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    Mute Drew P. Baulsach
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:23 PM

    @David Edwards: seems to be very dependent on where you are in the country. I’ve gone through one, ever, but my dad might go through one a week. I’m in offaly, he’s in kildare.

    10
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    Mute Philip Mckenna
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    Jun 5th 2018, 12:59 AM

    @Drew P. Baulsach: very true I have lived in roscommon for 13 years never been tested once, was in Dublin for a wedding last year was tested twice in 3 days!

    9
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    Mute Hans Vos
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:28 AM

    @Drew P. Baulsach: I’m in Tipperary for 25 years and never been stopped for drink control. Only for roadtax and insurance control.

    4
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:47 AM

    @David Edwards: I lived I’m Melbourne for 4 years and was never once breath tested

    2
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 9:47 AM

    @Hans Vos: no such thing as road tax control

    1
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    Mute Hans Vos
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    Jun 5th 2018, 11:46 AM

    @Ohhh_reeally: oh reeally? You never stopped by the Garda for tax disk control.

    4
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    Mute Ohhh_reeally
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    Jun 5th 2018, 4:30 PM

    @Hans Vos: no. Stopped at checkpoints where all required documents were checked.. not tax control as you call it

    1
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    Mute Hans Vos
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    Jun 5th 2018, 8:39 PM

    @Ohhh_reeally: maybe not in Melbourne but in Ireland they never asked me for documents but only look if you have your disk’s displayed.

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    Mute Dermot Foley
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    Jun 4th 2018, 7:39 PM

    Absolutely disgusting tbh. But absolutely hilarious too.

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    Mute Christina Sherwin Russell
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    Jun 5th 2018, 4:06 AM

    Name and shame as they do here in ontario

    15
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    Mute Eric Gaffney
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:43 PM

    Unlikely to be perceived as toxic.

    4
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    Mute Stephen Mullin
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    Jun 5th 2018, 6:24 AM

    It wasn’t me Judge – It was my drunkin self drive Tesla !!

    4
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    Mute LikeSeriouslySue
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    Jun 4th 2018, 9:38 PM

    a court appearance is hardly a deterrent – the message is not being heard. It should be treated like intent of assault with a deadly weapon.justice system in ireland is a joke and people know it,

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    Mute anthony o cathain
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    Jun 5th 2018, 11:42 AM

    3 yrs please

    1
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    Mute Divad Nayr
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    Jun 4th 2018, 10:26 PM

    Absolutely discussing, that’s a Ferrari 288 GTO , not a Lamborghini.

    1
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