I wonder if someone took the time to list all the potential activities for management & pruning, and then place them in either category, how much disagreement would there be on which category these things belong to?

I'd be willing to bet our parents have a slightly different take on all of this!

Sorry I wasn't clear about where I disagreed, I kind of got on a train of thought and just went with it. I prune my online identity because there certain aspects of “my real self” (offline) that I don't want my online network to see (when they're not around me). Like I said before, I don't think my Twitter followers need or want to see my sister's wedding or my exact location at 11pm on a Friday night.

So that being said, I think it's ok to “prune” pictures, exclude certain pictures on Facebook and delete wall posts because I want people to see the best side of me. I still take responsibility for my actions, I just don't broadcast them on the world wide web. I do however agree with you on deleting blog comments, they should be left untouched.

I hope that was clearer. What I am saying is I agree with you to a certain extent, but I also believe there's a gray area and that we need to prune in order to protect our privacy.

Thanks for the props. Would you mind just clarifying what it is that you disagree with? Was it the whole post or just certain parts?

Though my life outside of the Internet is constantly blending with my life on the Internet, people don't need to see me at things like my sister's wedding or family reunion. Not only am I protecting my privacy, I am protecting theirs as well. I am the same person I am on the Internet as I am in real life, but there are some things that I'd prefer to leave out. That's one of the reasons why I don't use Geo-Location apps like Foursquare because I don't want people knowing where I am at all times. I am not hiding anything, I am probably just at Starbucks, but why do my Twitter followers need to know that?

As for pictures go, your right I “untag” or choose to leave unflattering ones unpublicized, primarily because I am Gen Y and I am little self-conscious (maybe a little vein too). I am not creating and image, I am choosing my best aspects to being publicized online. Tyler I give you a lot of credit for strictly managing your reputation, definitely made me think about how I manage mine.

It's a crime that this has even become a business in of itself. “Reputation management” should be “don't do stupid shit”. It sucks that everything is documented these days in that sense…because I speak from experience: I've done plenty of dumb dumb things. Most of it has found it's way to digital mediums in some way or another.

However, do I do it? Yes. go look at my sanitized and incredibly boring facebook profile. It's boring…but I want to maintain my consulting business, livelihood and respect. I don't drink anymore because of it's potentially damaging effects to my reputation. (Which trust me is a good thing.)

I hate myself sometimes for doing this self censoring because I want to be freer and more open about a lot more aspects of my life…however I don't think an HR person doing background on me would be.