Where have you been?

Today, among other things, I have answered the Blogs at Penn State’s Ultimate Survey to see how I like the blog, what I think could be improved. Like I know. I’ve also been successful in finding someone’s AIM screen name that I only know vaguely. I’ve been to his website, found his resume (which I think might be a bit old) and seen many pictures of his cute dog, his (recent?) wedding, the honeymoon, and his life before wedded bliss. I really learned quite a bit about the guy, and that was only about 5 minutes worth of effort.
Which got me thinking about the digital footprints I’ve left on the web. While I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily paranoid, I’d like to think I’ve been careful about what I put out there–long before the infamous attack on Kathy Sierra, which was scary at best. I have two blogs (this one and a more personal, very random blog), a flickr account, and a website, and I largely avoid naming the kids (or the spouse either, for that matter). Every so often, I do google myself and the family, mostly to ensure the kids are behaving (now more than ever, kids have unlimited access to anything they want, and I tend to quietly monitor this presence). So what did I find today?
The kids: the oldest has a number of hits, almost entirely from the high school honor roll and music program. The middle kid has the same name as several older guys online, so most of the hits aren’t really for him. Again with the school honor roll, though, and a poetry project from last year. Finally, the youngest kid comes up with the most hits–scouting, school honor roll, a basketball roster, a church bulletin, and — bingo! — his MySpace page. The boy is smart enough to keep his profile private to the casual observer, which is good. All in all, I approve.
The spouse? Ever the technophobe, I figure there will be bubkus. However, yet again I am surprised. There he is, in scouting news and in a couple of job related articles.
And last but not least, Me: My website was top hit. No surprise. More interestingly, there are still references to me from my collegiate days in IST (don’t you think that, after 5-7 years, faculty could start cleaning out their sites???). Then I try the various personae I use online. A software recommendation for a Palm that no longer gets used because my Blackberry Pearl has knocked it off the playing field. A lot of hits for my PSU access ID, which does surprise me–internal blogs, . Hmmm, I’ll have to remember that. And my social networking moniker is ALL over the place. Well, I guess that is to be expected.
So really, the biggest offender of putting news about family members on the web without my approval? Our dear school system. My own digital footprint is slightly larger than I thought it was, but that includes any number of permutations that I personally know I use, and what I might try just as I did this morning with my new friend. You still have to dig a bit to get anything (and I do note the fact that my personal blog never does surface, which is how it should be, as those are the preferences I set when I created it). I’m reminded of that environmentally friendly saying “take only pictures, leave only footprints.” In today’s digital environment, it’s those footprints that can trip you up.