Yesterday I spent a lot of time writing video introductions for some of our spokespeople who are coming to convention. I didn't have a lot of information for half of them, so I turned to the trusty Internet and Google. It's super easy to find information about anyone you are looking for, really.
Try this right now: Google your full name and see what happens. (Don't you love how Google is now an accepted verb?)
When I Google my name, I find a whole lot of references pages from the 100 Hour Board. And references to national store chains with my last name. And a NewsNet article about the 100 Hour Board. And a Deseret Morning News staff photo from when I temporarily worked there years ago. Yikes on that last one. I also just learned that I took 233rd place in the Rex Lee Run in 2003 (out of 700-ish people). Wow! Look at what you learn on the Internet.
I also apparently have a MySpace page saying that I am a 19-year-old female taking Fine Arts 1 at the University of the Arts in London, England, I'm in a relationship, and I'm a Gemini. Oh really? That's funny because I thought I studied at BYU in the United States, I am not in a relationship (last time I checked), and I'm a Taurus... My last name is of English origin, so this does not surprise me. Maybe we're strangely distantly related.
Anyway.
As I was thinking about names on the Internet, I was reading the opinion page from the Deseret Morning News. Some people who write in are just morons. Others write valid concerns or clarifying statements. Today most of them are focused on Rocky Anderson and his misconceptions about government (please read them; they are hilarious, with this one as my favorite). Anyway, the ones who are dorks are going to have their name in print--and on the Internet--probably for a long time, if not forever. So when they Google their names, they might not be happy with what they find.
I also recommend Lois Collins' article about thinking about what you write before you send it in to the newspaper.
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