Just recently, I was interviewed for a custom framing position. It was a frame shop like frame shops should be, jazzy, artsy, and very nice. To be considered for the interview, I gave them my resume, which had my website and my blog. My website, sadly, is down right now. But imagine my surprise when I was greeted with print-offs of my blog during the interview. That was not the only surprise.
This employer had done his research, and during my interview it came out that he and the other framers got a good laugh out of my Myspace photo. "Myspace?" said I. My "space" had not been touched for the larger part of three years, if not more. "Yeah, the picture of you by the fountain."
It took me about thirty seconds. Fountain. Standing. Photo. An image of me leaning back, face relaxed, crotch lined up directly with the water... Oh. That photo. 19 year old David acting like the water was really a giant piss stream. Ha. Ha.
At that point in Washington D.C. more than four years ago I would have never guessed that this moment of silliness would go beyond my close friends. But here I was, in a cozy little office, star struck by the work opportunity I was trying for, being visited by David of Pissmas past.
Many of the stories I write have to do with the intangibility of technology, and the effects it has on our social habits. In reality, the internet is much more tangible than one might think.
A footprint I left years ago is still there, still viewable, and still being viewed. It could have been worse.
This incident was a great reminder to me. On the internet, even more than in reality, what you do is who you are. You are only as good as your worst post. I'm just glad mine was fairly innocent and forgivable.
In a digital age where memory is endless and knowledge is power, every footprint is embedded in stone. Watch your step.
