When Google is not your Friend

c.e.lawson · Jan 6, 2015

I'm not sure where the best place is to be asking this, but I have a concern regarding social media.

My daughter is a high school junior. This year is a big one for volleyball recruiting, and she has been in touch with colleges for that and will be, frequently, throughout the year. Obviously, she will be formally applying to college next year. Today, I was doing a bit of parental social media sleuthing, and I found that if I Google Twitter with my daughter's name, an account with the exact same name of a girl about the same age and from what looks to be a very close geographic location comes up. We found through our local amusement park's annual passports a few years ago that there is a girl in the next county to us who has the exact same name and is the same age as my daughter. It is NOT a common name, neither first nor last, so this is quite a coincidence. I suspect this Twitter is the same girl.

Unfortunately, this other persons' Twitter account is a nightmare. Much talk about partying, drinking, etc., racist comments, harsh words about President Obama, you name it. Her latest post says "RIP my liver" referring to New Year's Eve. If I were a college admissions person or a prospective volleyball coach, I wouldn't touch this girl with a ten foot pole. Now I'm very concerned that people who do the same search will think this is my daughter.

Any advice here would be greatly appreciated.

Osulagh · Jan 6, 2015

Nothing you can do. If anyone does research into your daughter through social networking, like an employer might, make sure she directs them to the correct accounts.

c.e.lawson · Jan 6, 2015

I suppose we can always put the correct account links in emails and applications. One problem is that coaches can find her through an online profile for prospective college athletes, and we do not know that they are viewing her profile. So they could definitely then do a social media search and we'd have no idea about it.

AW Admin · Jan 6, 2015

It's extremely unlikely that admissions board members will go spelunking for two reasons; first, there isn't time, and second, she's still a minor and has privacy rights.

What I would do in the next year or so is take control of her name space. Reserve a domain based on her name (with .com and .net at least), and put up a "business card site," that is one with a bare minimum of data (no pictures of her, no address, no phone number).

She can do this herself, and put up a single tiny page, or she can use about.me to do it, and direct the domain to about.me.

Dennis E. Taylor · Jan 6, 2015

You could make sure she has an equivalent twitter/facebook/whatever account of her own, maybe with her middle initial to differentiate it. If/when they go looking, they'll find Susan Anthony and Susan B. Anthony, and hopefully they'll have enough brains to reserve judgment until they figure out which is which.

c.e.lawson · Jan 6, 2015

AW Admin said:
It's extremely unlikely that admissions board members will go spelunking for two reasons; first, their isn't time, and second, she's still a minor and has privacy rights.

What I would do in the next year or so is take control of her name space. Reserve a domain based on her name (with .com and .net at least), and put up a "business card site," that is one with a bare minimum of data (no pictures of her, no address, no phone number).

She can do this herself, and put up a single tiny page, or she can use about.me to do it, and direct the domain to about.me.

Because I'm such a tech ignoramus, I'm going to take a guess at what this does - it will be, perhaps, the first thing that comes up in a Google search? And the person searching will likely go there for a concise place for pertinent info and therefore be directed to the correct links?

Thank you so much! And thank you to Osulagh (repped).

c.e.lawson · Jan 6, 2015

Angry Guy said:
You could make sure she has an equivalent twitter/facebook/whatever account of her own, maybe with her middle initial to differentiate it. If/when they go looking, they'll find Susan Anthony and Susan B. Anthony, and hopefully they'll have enough brains to reserve judgment until they figure out which is which.

Hmmm, that sounds like a good idea. Right now, her Twitter is only her first name and some numbers, so it doesn't come up right away on a search.

Cathy C · Jan 6, 2015

I've been hearing more and more about schools that really are looking at social media for applicants--especially if there's a potential scholarship or financial aid involved. They really do want to see whether the person who purports to have a 4.15 average can write legible wall posts or brags about scamming prior systems.

If I were in your place, I would try to shore up your daughter's actual identity by putting a photo somewhere in the admission package, or including a copy of her Facebook home page so it's obvious that the other person isn't the one applying.

It's a very different world out there than even five years ago, and it's very easy to allow a wrong impression to cloud a first impression if you're not proactive.

c.e.lawson · Jan 6, 2015

Cathy C said:
I've been hearing more and more about schools that really are looking at social media for applicants--especially if there's a potential scholarship or financial aid involved. They really do want to see whether the person who purports to have a 4.15 average can write legible wall posts or brags about scamming prior systems.

If I were in your place, I would try to shore up your daughter's actual identity by putting a photo somewhere in the admission package, or including a copy of her Facebook home page so it's obvious that the other person isn't the one applying.

It's a very different world out there than even five years ago, and it's very easy to allow a wrong impression to cloud a first impression if you're not proactive.

Thanks so much for this, Cathy. Darn - from your article:

“To me, it’s a huge problem,” said Bradley S. Shear, a lawyer specializing in social media law. For one thing, Mr. Shear told me, colleges might erroneously identify the account of a person with the same name as a prospective student — or even mistake an impostor’s account — as belonging to the applicant, potentially leading to unfair treatment. “Often,” he added, “false and misleading content online is taken as fact.”

AW Admin · Jan 8, 2015

Cathy C said:
I've been hearing more and more about schools that really are looking at social media for applicants--especially if there's a potential scholarship or financial aid involved. They really do want to see whether the person who purports to have a 4.15 average can write legible wall posts or brags about scamming prior systems.

Note that the article indicates that the school was monitoring their own mentions in social media, not checking up on prospective students.

If the student is under 18 and they receive Federal monies, it's illegal to do that kind of check.

If a student provides the URL, it may be admissible under some schools admissions policies, but more and more schools specifically have restrictions because you don't always know who is posting to an account.

A wealthy student, for instance, may have parents willing to fund a social media presence created by professionals. So schools are exceedingly cautious about relying on social media as such.

Moreover, some schools actively block Facebook, Twitter and similar networks from being accessed via the campus network.

One of the boards I participate on as an alum selects a recipient for a scholarship award given annually. Alums on the board will interview each potential candidates. School faculty on the board verify the references provided by the student. That's the method that is still used to select final recipients of admissions and awards, whether based on merit or need.

Minors privacy rights are fiercely protected.

If a student has an address in a Federal prison, for instance, and is under 18 that information has to be removed from application data that committee members see.

If the school is, say, a private school that does not participate in any Federally funded programs (athletic, student loans, research monies, work study, library funding, etc.) that's different, but there are a mere handful of schools that do not participate in Federally funded student loan programs.

c.e.lawson · Jan 10, 2015

AW Admin said:
Note that the article indicates that the school was monitoring their own mentions in social media, not checking up on prospective students.

If the student is under 18 and they receive Federal monies, it's illegal to do that kind of check.

If a student provides the URL, it may be admissible under some schools admissions policies, but more and more schools specifically have restrictions because you don't always know who is posting to an account.

A wealthy student, for instance, may have parents willing to fund a social media presence created by professionals. So schools are exceedingly cautious about relying on social media as such.

Moreover, some schools actively block Facebook, Twitter and similar networks from being accessed via the campus network.

One of the boards I participate on as an alum selects a recipient for a scholarship award given annually. Alums on the board will interview each potential candidates. School faculty on the board verify the references provided by the student. That's the method that is still used to select final recipients of admissions and awards, whether based on merit or need.

Minors privacy rights are fiercely protected.

If a student has an address in a Federal prison, for instance, and is under 18 that information has to be removed from application data that committee members see.

If the school is, say, a private school that does not participate in any Federally funded programs (athletic, student loans, research monies, work study, library funding, etc.) that's different, but there are a mere handful of schools that do not participate in Federally funded student loan programs.

Thank you for this explanation. I missed it when you first posted, and I appreciate the time you took here. I do feel a bit better now.

Taejang · Jan 19, 2015

AW Admin said:
If the student is under 18 and they receive Federal monies, it's illegal to do that kind of check.

She won't be a minor forever, and employers also check social media. Not all schools are up-to-date on such laws, and not all school employees are up-to-date on school policies. Best to take control of the situation now.

Cathy C said:
If I were in your place, I would try to shore up your daughter's actual identity by putting a photo somewhere in the admission package, or including a copy of her Facebook home page so it's obvious that the other person isn't the one applying.

As said in other posts and Cathy's, make it easy to identify which one is your daughter. First and last name are a must, as is a picture that actually shows her face (no masks, scenic shots, etc). Providing links to her real accounts can help as well, when appropriate. As a bonus, sometimes putting a real name and picture on their social pages will make children more responsible with what they post; that may not be applicable if your daughter is already responsible, but thought I'd mention it anyway.

c.e.lawson said:
Because I'm such a tech ignoramus, I'm going to take a guess at what this does - it will be, perhaps, the first thing that comes up in a Google search? And the person searching will likely go there for a concise place for pertinent info and therefore be directed to the correct links?

Google's algorithm is complicated, and designing a page to perform well in Google searching is practically an art form. Depending on competition from other sites and various factors, it can take a professional many hours to optimize a site, even with unique or unusual names or content.

As an example, search for "bubbles are delicious" (no quotes). Take note of what comes up on the first page. Repeat the search with quotes. At the time of this writing, the domain name "www.bubbles-are-delicious.com" is at the bottom of the first page. While not the most unique combination of words, it is fairly unusual, and even those words in the exact same position as the actual site address still didn't make it to the top position, or even on the first page at all without quotes.

That said, making a personal page can be very professional (and a great reflection of ability if she can make it herself), but don't count on it being the first hit on a Google search. Supplying the link along with other contact info is always an option, however, and you may get lucky and have her page be at least in the top ten Google hits.

Also, the more good links that come up when searching her name, the more likely whoever is searching clicks on hers. Maybe her page isn't the first, but if she has a Facebook, a Twitter, and a homepage, that is three links instead of just two.

Channy · Jan 20, 2015

Now I want bubbles...

I would, at the very least, have her link her Twitter and her Facebook together. Twitter's aren't always the most professional medium but Facebook is more reliable a source when setting a character. And try add some details that will help tell the difference between her and this other girl, but nothing that would give too much away (i.e. for stalkers and the like). In the Facebook linked to her Twitter, have her professional college email listed so they can see that attached, likely to her application.

As well, someone noted throw in a middle initial.. or maybe the whole name, as some people do.

When Google is not your Friend

c.e.lawson

Osulagh

Independent fluffy puppy.

c.e.lawson

AW Admin

Dennis E. Taylor

Get it off! It burns!

c.e.lawson

c.e.lawson

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

c.e.lawson

AW Admin

c.e.lawson

Taejang

Why not?

Channy

Me Gusta