There are lots of books and articles about social networking, and what you should and shouldn't put online. This becomes an exercise in fabricating an "image" of someone who doesn't truly exist. Either people are trying to appear to be responsible citizens to potential employers who may Google them, or trying to seem attractive to the "right" person in online dating. There are entire companies dedicated to search engine optimization and online reputation management.
I have a fairly common name, which can be a disadvantage in certain ways, but it does make me relatively anonymous online. Even this site, which has my first and last name right up front can't really be directly linked to me without some exhaustive research. Googling my name reveals nothing connected to me in the first 100 results, although I was in the top 10 for a while earlier in the year. Anyone who didn't already know me would have difficulty finding any information about me online.
Ironically in my case, that is usually a disadvantage, since most all of the information about me on the internet is positive, if it can be discovered. I have written for a number of different websites, and am mentioned by name in many technology articles. But if I want to find articles that reference me and my work, I usually Google my co-workers names, since they are more unique, and return the desired results.
If people are worried about photos of what they do on the weekends ending up online, maybe they shouldn't be doing those things. The only thing I have done to manipulate my online "image" is un-tag some photos. Due to the fact that I rarely drink, my colleagues make a point of documenting when I do, which leads to an inaccurate "picture" of my habits in that regard.
I know someone who is extremely careful about segmenting which of her friends can see different things she can post on Facebook. On the other hand, I ignore all but the most broad privacy controls, and just make a habit of NOT posting anything that I wouldn't want the entire general public to see. This results in being less open online than many other people, but I can be less concerned about who might see what. This site is an exception in regards to not being open online, but that is because I am trying to grow in that regard.
That can be taken too far the other direction, with people publicly reveling in sin, so I guess there is a balance. The need for transparency within our community is an idea that only makes sense applied to believers. If that is to help purify the community, people with no shame being open about their exploits will have the opposite affect, communicating that "everyone is doing it" and that "it's no big deal." Ironically the same principle still applies at either end of the spectrum: "actually BE the person that you want others to SEE you as."
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