Is it normal i’m worried about the dumb things you’ve said online?

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I’ve been using the internet for most of my young life, having been born right before the turn of the millennium, and like all people when they’re young I did some pretty stupid and cringe worthy things, but had the problem unique to this generation of having most of it on the internet.

Now, an obvious solution would be to delete it all, and I have deleted certain things in the past, but I can’t help but feel a bit cowardly and dishonest doing that, instead of owning up to my mistakes. Plus, a lot of what I’m referring to is on yahoo answers, which last I remember you can’t delete questions from (at least after they get best answer. I haven’t been on there in a while, for obvious reasons).

The worst part is is that I have a dream of becoming an author, and even if my writing is only moderately successful, there’s still bound to be some people curious about me and the things I did. But even beyond that, what if someone decides not to give me a job because of all the weird shit I’ve posted online?

You might think it’s just typical cringey kid/teenager stuff, but I somehow feel my stupidity was unique. I nonchalantly talked about fetishes and thought God was communicating to me through weird means, and there’s one moment in particular that stands out that’s haunted me for years! I know I’m probably exaggerating, but sometimes I feel like I’m just about the dumbest person ever. Or at least I was in the past. Am I just blowing this out of proportion, or have been gradually digging my own grave?

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Comments ( 5 )
  • SwickDinging
    5 years ago

    Don't feel cowardly about deleting anything! The internet has no right to your personal information. It's only your generation that seems to see it that way. Delete absolutely anything and everything that makes you feel even slightly uncomfortable. Start reading the fine print on apps and social media stuff that you use. It's terrifying. You don't have to feed the machine.

    As a side note don't have your birthday on any site that also has your real name. Identity theft just waiting to happen. All you need to steal someone's cash is to come across their card somehow (even if you don't drop it some douchebag at a party could lift it out of your wallet) and then if you have their birthday, hey presto! Free money! If you also have their mother's maiden name (from Facebook, for example)) then even better, you can actually start making phone calls to places like the bank pretending to be them.

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  • RoseIsabella
    5 years ago

    I used to be a big troll in the goth chatrooms back in 1998.

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    • SwickDinging
      5 years ago

      Hahaha yes rose!!

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      • RoseIsabella
        5 years ago

        Well, I was bored, had just gotten my first computer, and they were so damn pretentious. They were practically begging for it.

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  • leggs91200
    5 years ago

    I imagine they would have to dig quite a bit to make any connection between you and whatever you posted.

    If it is easily connectable, like say you use your real name on facebook or some other social media site, then maybe go ahead and delete as much of the dumb stuff as you can.

    Consider also that there are tons of people trying to get attention and go viral on the web so whatever search results would be connected to you might be buried quite a bit.

    I think the first two steps are -
    1) Clean up your social media postings
    2) Do a web search of your legal name and maybe preferred name (if you have ever posted under it) to see what comes up so you can further clean things up.

    None of this is likely even necessary but better safe than sorry, plus you might rest a little easier.

    That thing about "people can still find it". That is true but no need to make it easy. You do not leave your phone or house unlocked just because "a determined crook can still get in".

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