Digital Tattoos: Data Mining Exercise

This week, I decided to do a ‘data mine’ of myself. The sites I used for this activity included the following:

1.        Google

2.        Facebook

3.        YouTube

4.        LinkedIn

5.        InstantCheckmate

6.        Intelius

7.        FastPeopleSearch

Social Media Presence

I started with a basic Google search of my name. It provided links to my LinkedIn page, Facebook profile, and YouTube channel. It also provided a link to my blog, which makes sense since I made it available to the public. I am also happy to see a link to the Chicago Flute Club, an organization which I am significantly involved in. I also found old articles about music performances/competitions I participated in during my undergrad and graduate programs from Bradley University and University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Results from my family members appeared as well. One of the things that came up was my father’s OSU Laboratory Blog. It is nice to know that my parents have a digital presence as well.

Although I have a LinkedIn, I rarely post anything there, so there was very little outside my immediate profile. In stark contrast, On Facebook, although I have not posted a lot recently, I did see a lot of posts and photos by friends and family with me tagged. A digital tattoo is not just made up of what you post, but what others post about you.

Most of my YouTube search results did not surprise me, as I have been the most active on this site. However, the top results included a recording of my UNL Graduate Recital and my Bradley University Undergraduate Senior Recital. I consider this another example of posts made by others about me, further expanding my digital tattoo.

Looking through my Facebook and YouTube activity gave me a wave of nostalgia from my early twenties. It reminded me just how many people have been involved in my life and how many personal and familial relationships I have neglected over the years. I feel compelled to increase my involvement online in the hopes of reconnecting with more people from my past. I also feel compelled to update it, as it still says I live in Oak Park, IL.

Misinformation

The second half of the resources I used provided some interesting but alarming results, specifically, inaccurate information.

InstantCheckMate provided my name, age, and relatives. However, it includes an ‘M’ as a middle initial. My middle name does not start with M, so I am very curious where this is coming from. This error persists on my search on Intelius, which provided identical information. In my own time, I might investigate what is going on here.

source: InstantCheckMate

When searching, FastPeopleSearch, I had another dilemma when searching for myself. Searching my name spelled correctly did not work, so I experimented with misspellings. I got the most success using the search ‘evan vanbreemen.’ Even then, I got multiple results with differing information, and all of them lacked my current address. Also, it says I am 32, which is currently false.

From: FastPeopleSearch.com

My favorite example of false information appeared when I searched MyLife.com  It claimed I was married, which is currently false. I also do not recognize these neighbors, but perhaps they were neighbors when I was a child.

Source: MyLife.com

I think these errors in my information can be attributed to my lack of an online presence. Perhaps if I expand it, these errors will dissipate. Misinformation can drastically affect your digital tattoo and affect how people perceive you in the real world. The best way I can think of to combat misinformation like this is with continuing to expand my online presence. The truth is only as strong as the people supporting it. But first, you must support your own truth, and then others will follow.

Comments

  1. NMZumpanoApril 11, 2025 at 5:59 AM

    I've always wondered where the nonsensical information comes from. But I think it is very cool that you stumbled on your dad's blog!

    ReplyDelete

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