Use your real or psuedo name on Facebook?

[b52s]

There's a lot of REAL life friends I know on my Facebook friends list....

 

First of all, I am saying that I don't use my REAL last name on Facebook, because it's kind of a unique last name, and I don't want employers Googling me, esp. with high profile jobs like school districts.

 

In person, people somehow find out my real name and they go, "So, how come your name is diff on Facebook?"

 

I Have no problem telling them my real name in person, but I get the feeling that some of my friends are put-off by me using a fake last name. But I do explain to them why I do this.

 

I think it's stupid that Facebook apparently REQUIRES a full REAL name (not sure why) as opposed to MySpace, where you can call yourself, "Mr. Doolittle" and not suffer the consequences of being banned.

 

Apparently, if you're "real name" sounds made up, Facebook will ban you or make you change it.

 

Anyhow, I have a couple of other friends that have done the same thing.

 

But, apparently, some people might be thinking I have something to hide or have "trust" issues when they find out I don't use a real name on Facebook.

 

Am I making a big deal out of this, or is it them that's making the big deal. I'm really suprised how many will put their FULL first/middle/AND last names out there for the world to see. Esp. with the recent articles about people getting fired and crap for having a beer in their hand in their photos.

 

Actually, I'm not entirely SURE if they are put off by it, but it's just a vibe I get? I dunno

 

One male friend of mine in FB Chat said, did a "LOL...so you a serial killer or something with something to hide??"

 

Even though he said it in jest...not sure why he would say that.

Edited December 5, 2009 by b52s

[New Again]

Sometimes when I read your posts I wonder "Who is that guy?!"

 

I personally think it's bizarre that you use a made up last name. After reading your other posts, I'm not surprised though. Who cares what I think, right?

 

For job related reasons I changed my name to my middle name and last name, which I've seen several other people do. For some reason certain people thought this was odd, and kept teasing me about who I was hiding from (which I find odd, as they know what I do for a living).

 

Eventually I changed my name so that I'm now going by my first and middle name, which I have also seen many people do. No one has made one single comment about this.

 

I also set my "search" settings so that no one can find me on Facebook. This means if someone Googles me, my name doesn't come up at all. However, I also share the name of someone famous, so even before I did that, my name wouldn't come up for tens of thousands of pages in a Google search.

Edited December 5, 2009 by New Again

[USMCHokie]

Real. I don't care enough to fake it.

[b52s]

Sometimes when I read your posts I wonder "Who is that guy?!"

 

I personally think it's bizarre that you use a made up last name. After reading your other posts, I'm not surprised though. Who cares what I think, right?

 

For job related reasons I changed my name to my middle name and last name, which I've seen several other people do. For some reason certain people thought this was odd, and kept teasing me about who I was hiding from (which I find odd, as they know what I do for a living).

 

Eventually I changed my name so that I'm now going by my first and middle name, which I have also seen many people do. No one has made one single comment about this.

 

I also set my "search" settings so that no one can find me on Facebook. This means if someone Googles me, my name doesn't come up at all. However, I also share the name of someone famous, so even before I did that, my name wouldn't come up for tens of thousands of pages in a Google search.

 

Really? When I've "Googled' someone's name, the FIRST to come up is their facebook profile...IF they have a facebook profile....figured there was no hiding from Google.

 

BUT...I heard that you can hide yourself from a search from WITHIN Facebook (the searchbox ON the FB page itself)

 

I just heard some people can circumvent that kind of thing.

 

I'm attempting to apply for high profile jobs....school district actually. I've heard of teachers getting fired for even so much as having a picture of them with a glass of wine in their hand.

 

P.S. - lol....so what's wrong with my other posts?

[start-fresh]

Really? When I've "Googled' someone's name, the FIRST to come up is their facebook profile...IF they have a facebook profile....figured there was no hiding from Google.

 

BUT...I heard that you can hide yourself from a search from WITHIN Facebook (the searchbox ON the FB page itself)

 

I just heard some people can circumvent that kind of thing.

 

I'm attempting to apply for high profile jobs....school district actually. I've heard of teachers getting fired for even so much as having a picture of them with a glass of wine in their hand.

 

P.S. - lol....so what's wrong with my other posts?

 

There's a setting that allows you to exclude your profile from public searches (e.g. Google). You can set it up so they can't search for you anywhere - at all - and if they somehow manage to find your page, will only show a generic profile pic (that blue one with a white head) your networks, and mutual friends with that person. You can monitor your pictures so nothing is tagged that you wouldn't want others to see. Other than that, if they search through pictures your friends have up with you in them and not tagged and they find something they don't like, that's just dumb luck on their part.

 

People that get caught doing something or don't get a job because of something on facebook usually are either too dumb or too lazy to take these precautions.

[New Again]

Really? When I've "Googled' someone's name, the FIRST to come up is their facebook profile...IF they have a facebook profile....figured there was no hiding from Google.

 

BUT...I heard that you can hide yourself from a search from WITHIN Facebook (the searchbox ON the FB page itself)

 

I just heard some people can circumvent that kind of thing.

 

I'm attempting to apply for high profile jobs....school district actually. I've heard of teachers getting fired for even so much as having a picture of them with a glass of wine in their hand.

 

P.S. - lol....so what's wrong with my other posts?

Well if you're Googling someone and they are on FB and their profile comes up, it's because they don't have the most restrictive search privacy settings. You can definitely exclude yourself from public searches...I know, cuz I did it

 

I'm not sure if this is legal, but I have heard that in job interviews for teaching positions candidates have been asked if they have a FB page, and if so to log in right then and there so the committee (principal and whomever) can see your page in the hopes of catching you off guard, before you can hide things....and so they can have access to it even if you restricted your privacy to exclude people like them.

 

This is what I did:

1. Chose the most restrictive privacy and search settings for every aspect of my profile.

2. Deleted all my information until all that was left was my networks, my email, my profile picture, my relationship status (to keep my bf happy), and my groups and pages - which I edited to make sure none of them were about drinking, offensive, etc.

3. Deleted all my photo albums, except my photography ones, as those are completely harmless - no drugs/alcohol, no nudes or lingerie, nothing suggestive, etc.

4. Deleted my entire wall. At first this was very sad for me - I felt like it was a virtual scrapbook of my college and post college days - my bf made me feel better. He said to think of it this way: those are private conversations between you and whomever was writing on your wall that really don't need to be there for everyone to see years later, etc.

5. Made my settings so that only I could see pictures tagged of me, then went through and detagged every single picture that included alcohol (me or anyone else in the picture), or that was in a photo album with a suggestive or alcohol related name. I'm not concerned if other people have photos of me in their albums that I've detagged, since most people these days make their photo albums so that only their friends can see the pics...someone would REALLY have to be digging to find them, and even then, not sure how that would work since pretty much everyone has "friends only" restrictions on their profile viewing.

 

There is face recognition software that someone could use to find and access these photos; however there's no way a school district would spend the time and money on that crap, so no worries there.

 

P.S. There's nothing wrong with your posts. I just think you're somewhat offbeat, and occasionally charmingly oblivious and blunt.

Edited December 5, 2009 by New Again

[jw90063]

I personally think it's bizarre that you use a made up last name. After reading your other posts, I'm not surprised though. Who cares what I think, right?

 

 

Not as bizarre as providing your entire name on FB where any weirdo on the internet can see you. Most people do have a picture up, and their full name displayed on the site. While, you can choose to be more discreet by altering your private settings, most people do not. Most people either don't care, or simply don't have enough sense to change it.

 

I personally think its a bit strange, that you can easily Google someone's name and it come up on FB, along with a photo, and access to their friends list.

[threebyfate]

If you're concerned about privacy, why have a FB profile at all? People put waaayyy too much significance into FB, in that it was intended for lighthearted fun, rather than the be-all and end-all it's become, for some.

[b52s]

Not as bizarre as providing your entire name on FB where any weirdo on the internet can see you. Most people do have a picture up, and their full name displayed on the site. While, you can choose to be more discreet by altering your private settings, most people do not. Most people either don't care, or simply don't have enough sense to change it.

 

I personally think its a bit strange, that you can easily Google someone's name and it come up on FB, along with a photo, and access to their friends list.

 

Yeah, typically you can see their main profile pic...and their friends list...but...nothing else if they set it to private...you'd have to add them.

 

 

Yeah, definately, if that person does have a FB, and you google their full name....that's typically the FIRST thing that comes up on the Google list....I think sometimes Google lately has been automatically doing this geographically in relation to where YOU live. Like if you google Bob Smith, it'll show the "Bob Smiths" in your area first (just a theory though)

[New Again]

Not as bizarre as providing your entire name on FB where any weirdo on the internet can see you. Most people do have a picture up, and their full name displayed on the site. While, you can choose to be more discreet by altering your private settings, most people do not. Most people either don't care, or simply don't have enough sense to change it.

 

I personally think its a bit strange, that you can easily Google someone's name and it come up on FB, along with a photo, and access to their friends list.

Nope, FB is a social networking tool, therefore it is weird to give fake, made up information.

 

Agree to disagree.

[b52s]

There's a setting that allows you to exclude your profile from public searches (e.g. Google). You can set it up so they can't search for you anywhere - at all - and if they somehow manage to find your page, will only show a generic profile pic (that blue one with a white head) your networks, and mutual friends with that person. You can monitor your pictures so nothing is tagged that you wouldn't want others to see. Other than that, if they search through pictures your friends have up with you in them and not tagged and they find something they don't like, that's just dumb luck on their part.

 

People that get caught doing something or don't get a job because of something on facebook usually are either too dumb or too lazy to take these precautions.

 

Well, this gets into an entire conversation altogether, esp. when a teacher who takes a vacation to Europe and explores "wine country" then gets canned because someone saw it...personally, I wouldn't want to work for employer that gets all bent out of shape over a PG rated photo.

 

Now if they were doing something illegal like smoking weed or something, I would understand. Or something involving moral turpitude like taking a leak in public.

[New Again]

Yeah, typically you can see their main profile pic...and their friends list...but...nothing else if they set it to private...you'd have to add them.

 

 

Yeah, definately, if that person does have a FB, and you google their full name....that's typically the FIRST thing that comes up on the Google list....I think sometimes Google lately has been automatically doing this geographically in relation to where YOU live. Like if you google Bob Smith, it'll show the "Bob Smiths" in your area first (just a theory though)

FYI can you restrict who can see your friends list also. I did.

 

And Google has always worked geographically, for everything, not just FB searches.

[jw90063]

Well I noticed how people aren't just reuniting with old friends. They have all their family members as well. I think that is kind of weird, unless you live far away from your family and rarely see them. I think the site should definitely be more private since you have everyone from your mother, to your uncle and your great grandmother on there for the world to see.

[b52s]

Well I noticed how people aren't just reuniting with old friends. They have all their family members as well. I think that is kind of weird, unless you live far away from your family and rarely see them. I think the site should definitely be more private since you have everyone from your mother, to your uncle and your great grandmother on there for the world to see.

 

 

I have no desire to stay in touch with my old high school friends, much less my college friends...I have one that I found on Facebook that I just added as a friend, that's pretty much it.

 

And my relatives, they're pretty much distant relatives, we've never stayed in touch with them either.

[New Again]

Well I noticed how people aren't just reuniting with old friends. They have all their family members as well. I think that is kind of weird, unless you live far away from your family and rarely see them. I think the site should definitely be more private since you have everyone from your mother, to your uncle and your great grandmother on there for the world to see.

yeah, I really enjoyed FB when it was restricted to ONLY people in college (and then, only certain colleges/universities). After that changed I severely restricted my info and privacy settings.

 

Now I have aunts and uncles, friends' parents, etc. sending me friend requests...I will be getting rid of my account soon I think.

 

Look we agree it's weird :laugh:

[SoulSearch_CO]

I use my real name on FB. But I have my privacy options set up strange so that somehow - even people that know my full name IRL can't seem to find me on FB. I even give my email address and it doesn't come up in searches on FB. I don't know - odd. I kind of like it, though, for personal reasons. Long story. I think you can only find me by name/email if you're in my regional network. I'm not sure how that whole thing works.

[Knittress]

I'm completely open on facebook. I just watch what I say. (Which, really, shouldn't we strive to be doing anyway?) In fact it kind of makes me sad when people hide away and lock everything down. It's hard enough for folks to connect with each other without people wearing masks on the internet as well.

[SincereOnlineGuy]

You're on the internet.

 

It is never a good idea to use your real last name anywhere online.

 

Nor is it sensible to use your main e-mail address at any of these social sites.

 

People can't figure that out?

[Knittress]

You're on the internet.

 

It is never a good idea to use your real last name anywhere online.

 

I don't really understand this automatic suspicion towards "the internet." It's a public space like anywhere else. If you're openly representing yourself you better be darn sure it's something you wouldn't mind random passerby knowing about. Your home address? No. Your seinfeld-esque musings? Why not?

 

Facebook is the town square.

Places like this (with usernames of varying personal connection) are more akin to coffeeshops or living rooms.

[b52s]

I use my real name on FB. But I have my privacy options set up strange so that somehow - even people that know my full name IRL can't seem to find me on FB. I even give my email address and it doesn't come up in searches on FB. I don't know - odd. I kind of like it, though, for personal reasons. Long story. I think you can only find me by name/email if you're in my regional network. I'm not sure how that whole thing works.

 

I got one for ya....I changed accts on FB and was re-adding friends, until I came across a former friend that I could not find ...I even knew his full name, too....and did a search on FB for it....still nothing, I found it weird, becuase I was able to find him before doing a search.

 

He actually had to call me on the PHONE to tell me he had to go ahead and open up his privacy settings JUST so I could find him to add him, lol

[whichwayisup]

IF they have a facebook profile....figured there was no hiding from Google.

Change your fb settings so you don't come up on a google search. Also, you can make your name totally private in fb searches too, so if someone looks for you, your name won't even come up that way either..And, if want to add someone, only YOU can do that.

[SincereOnlineGuy]

I don't really understand this automatic suspicion towards "the internet." It's a public space like anywhere else. If you're openly representing yourself you better be darn sure it's something you wouldn't mind random passerby knowing about. Your home address? No. Your seinfeld-esque musings? Why not?

 

Facebook is the town square.

Places like this (with usernames of varying personal connection) are more akin to coffeeshops or living rooms.

 

 

Funny, I never get to the town square in my area and find all of my personal data on file permanently just waiting for the interest of someone/anyone who wants it.

 

It is downright laughable how many times I have gone from real name to complete address of fully unsuspecting individuals here on "the internet".

 

 

 

Why I can even recall a "Seinfeld-esque musing" of a particular internet girl who explained that her grandfather had invented (something we all have taken for granted for so long, that I can barely imagine that it was 'invented' at all).

 

I merely Googled: "invented _________" and was taken to an anonymous online blog wherein she stated in grim, gruesome detail about her having been raped on a road trip to meet a guy for the first time.

 

 

Now, had I not known her name, it wouldn't matter that I now know every detail of the granddaughter of the person who supposedly "invented _______" having been raped.

 

 

And if you can't understand that yet, then it is highly likely that you never will...

 

 

PS - there was only one Google hit on that "invented __________ " phrase.