Facebook and Google Searches

[Bonita]

I know how to modify my settings so that someone who isn't a Facebook member can't see my (very limited) Facebook profile by Googling it.

However, wondering this - is there a way to make myself totally un-Google-able? I post on some animal rescue forums' walls, etc., and my name and posts show up on a Google search.

I'm not saying anything I'm ashamed of, far from it, but I have an ex who is borderline stalker and just don't want to be "out there" at all to him. I don't want him to know ANYTHING about my life, my husband or my animals.

[WindSpirit]

What would keep your ex from becoming a Facebook member and being able to see your profile this way? Make it private so only your friends are going to be able to see anything but your picture. Then it won't matter if you're searchable on Google or not.

Some blogs have an option to keep search engines away. Knowing Facebook's owner's idea of "privacy" and sharing ("if you're afraid of people finding out about it maybe you shouldn't be doing it" ), I would be surprised if you could opt out but you need to check.

[Anita18]

Unfortunately I don't think you have any influence in making yourself unGoogleable. There are some things that websites can do about it, but it's not automatic. They have to purposely flag their site or page so Google's crawlers will skip it.

You could ask the forum sitemasters to do that, but not sure how easy that is for an entire forum, since each thread is itself a page, etc etc. And they might not want to sacrifice Google visibility.

The easiest thing to do is to never use your real name or any other personal identifiers on such forums.

[MacMadame]

There used to be an option in FB to be searchable via a search engine or not. I would assume it's still there but they keep changing things and now I can't find it.

[Stormy]

Unfortunately I don't think you have any influence in making yourself unGoogleable. There are some things that websites can do about it, but it's not automatic. They have to purposely flag their site or page so Google's crawlers will skip it.

You could ask the forum sitemasters to do that, but not sure how easy that is for an entire forum, since each thread is itself a page, etc etc. And they might not want to sacrifice Google visibility.

The easiest thing to do is to never use your real name or any other personal identifiers on such forums.

I think Anita is right. We're in the day and age where even if you never ever go online, you can still be found. You can find my name on skating results that are published on USFS and club sites. Even if I never went online in my entire life, you can find out things about me if you know my name.

[Bonita]

My profile is totally blank even with a Facebook member search (my picture and states I'm female, no one can see anything else except friends). And I'm talking about posting on Facebook groups, where you have to use your real name, not outside forums or blogs. So I guess there you can't hide on FB.

[Aceon6]

I've done a pretty good job of making my real name searches come up with just professional info. As Stormy said, there's little I can do about my golf tournament results... they're out there, so my only choice would be not to compete. I check periodically to make sure my screen name and surname aren't together anywhere. Only my closest friends know my screen name.

eta, of course it helps that searching for me by name on Facebook defaults to someone with the same name who is OBVIOUSLY not me.

[kia_4EverOnIce]

under privacy settings there should be an option to hidden your profile in search-engines, but I don't know if it works also with your name in FB-groups and public pages...