What will happen if you don’t popup in search engine results in about five years? When you’re a consultant, will you still be hired by a company, or will the company have an immediate lack of trust since you are not in the result set, so you might have something to hide. Will you, when you need a loan at a bank, don’t get this loan because you aren’t traceable online?

Is not having an identity online or leaving traces online the biggest mistake you can make? Privacy matters, not having any presence online could be great for your privacy, however it could be a disaster for the way other people will see you. What if you are not findable in a search engine, than you have done a good job protecting your privacy (nobody sees any data related to you), however you did a poor job at making sure people are able to get to know you. They might even think that you are hiding something, since it seems you don’t have a(n online) history.

Russians

The Russians knew that Pravda contained state propaganda so they used other sources to get to the bottom of some news. We all know that resumes are also just propaganda, telling the best things about a specific person that are suitable for a specific job. People like to verify that, they want to know more than just the standard lines on a resume. No they don’t need to know your social security number, so you don’t have to put that online. However they want to know who you are and what you really did. And these might be the same things as you mention in a resume, however people like to check it at a source that is independent (from their perspective). And with everything searchable nowadays, it gives us a weird feeling when you don’t show up in the search results. Somebody who isn’t findable has something to hide, or could be a secret agent or isn’t even a real person.

Footprint is a necessity

Leave some digital footprint, make yourself findable, you might need it in the near future when you want to use a service or need a job.