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[familyaerospace]

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You can get all that BS by the adcoms if you want, but none of it passes the sniff test. Especially since apparently your companies are some essay reviewing services - I'm sure everyone is super impressed.

1. Pretty sure that trying to find people's real life identity is a terms of service violation
2. I would never use a fcking writing service because I'm not a *****
3. Before you go poking around for other people's identities, I'd consider that your MD apps is linked to your sdn name and there's probably not a whole lot of 33 year old trans applicants. I find that very amusing. After all, your posts have suggested that online activity can come with consequences, right?

EDIT: to clarify, I'm not threatening you. I'm telling you that digging into other peoples online identities is not appreciated and you are setting yourself up for something negative by doing that. I dont really care and have no interest in preventing someone from entering med school or residency regardless of how distasteful i find their attitude.

My primary business is technology consulting and intellectual property protection with some very high level grant writing. We do diversity training once in a blue moon. We've done maybe four or five public image repairs over the past decade, businesses though, not individuals. Those subjects get old fast. I hate them so much but it paid well.

One of the branches of the company does copy editing services which I enjoy doing personally although it pays little. I am the only one who has that skill set. I am not a fan of ghost writing so I charge an enormous amount for it, more if I think you are using it to apply to school. I do copy editing and peer review. Over 300 of your SDN colleagues have used my pro bono editing service because I like giving back and I wanted to see if there was something consistent that separated the rejects from the accepts. One person (another SDNer) attempted to get me to write all their secondaries which I quoted an outrageous price for and asked for a school list. I was planning to report the guy. He found someone else on SDN to write all his secondaries for him, he was accepted. A rising M4. I have a list of SDN usernames with notes about what I was working on with their statement as with 300 people all saying similar things, it is easy to become confused. Now some are coming back to me to help with residency applications. Some have been amazed that I remember something from their initial application. No I don't. I keep business records for seven to ten years. Some of those usernames have emails attached to them and some have names attached because the people gave them to me. You would never believe how many people sign their real names in PMs or give me FB/linkedin/G+ information. Use of google documents is common now. Guess what? That links to your real world identity. In the past 90 days, at least 5 SDN people have hit my Linkedin, one contacted a reference of mine, then PMed me to ask for help.

I have never hidden who I was. Anyone can find me on google in less than 30 seconds. I already stated in another thread, on the same topic, who I am is known to a pretty significant amount of people including adcomms. Things I have posted on SDN have come up in interviews like when I was in Michigan and I was concerned about driving home in the Thundersnow, the dean said something to me directly about it. I've had people comment about public photos on facebook, most of which are recipes. The only thing that no one has ever commented on in an interview was my livejournal which has been dead for years.

Someone stated on the MCG thread they were happy they finally would get to meet me and asked how they would find me. I told them I would be surprised if they couldn't identify me in the first week. There are at least 5 things that make me very obvious. Being trans is the least obvious of all of them.

 

[DocVapor]

@familyaerospace

Thanks for the time you put into the answer to my question. It sounds like you come from a larger city; I wonder if the different cultures between more populated areas and more rural areas might account at least somewhat for the differences in our philosophy.

 

[ImportedKamariya]

Ah, the "I don't even own a TV" for the modern age...

no. this isn't about being smug. the ONLY time someone should use social media is for work. when you put your personal stuff online, it can be hacked/words can be twisted out of context and of course no matter what you say or do, someone will be offended thanks to politically correct america. if it is work related, it is objective posting such as how such and such nerve sends a signal or what are the forms of neuropathy that can be mitigated via etc. which means your post and account reads like a generic textbook which is exactly what you want - a lack of controversy.

i am a huge fan of social media as it is an incredible tool in society (specifically for catching news and important events as they unfold). it has taught me so much (along with also learning that kim k. is having twins and the latest medical procedures such as the "vampire facial") but overall, if you are not making money off that public image, there is no point outside of only professional posts to even exist on there.

everytime i see a crime (or even any kind of controversy in this sensitive and politically correct country) happen on a news website (such as www.nydn.com), i cringe when i see someone's facebook image and profile being used on there to talk about that person. it's terrible that media will use all that info against you and try you [via media] and find you guilty before your day in court. you can usually see that 90% of comments posted below such stories talk about how sordid that said guy or girl is in the article as if these people are angels themselves. for this reason, gtfo social media. really.

 

[WingedOx]

no. this isn't about being smug. the ONLY time someone should use social media is for work. when you put your personal stuff online, it can be hacked/words can be twisted out of context and of course no matter what you say or do, someone will be offended thanks to politically correct america. if it is work related, it is objective posting such as how such and such nerve sends a signal or what are the forms of neuropathy that can be mitigated via etc. which means your post and account reads like a generic textbook which is exactly what you want - a lack of controversy.

i am a huge fan of social media as it is an incredible tool in society (specifically for catching news and important events as they unfold). it has taught me so much (along with also learning that kim k. is having twins and the latest medical procedures such as the "vampire facial") but overall, if you are not making money off that public image, there is no point outside of only professional posts to even exist on there.

everytime i see a crime (or even any kind of controversy in this sensitive and politically correct country) happen on a news website (such as www.nydn.com), i cringe when i see someone's facebook image and profile being used on there to talk about that person. it's terrible that media will use all that info against you and try you [via media] and find you guilty before your day in court. you can usually see that 90% of comments posted below such stories talk about how sordid that said guy or girl is in the article as if these people are angels themselves. for this reason, gtfo social media. really.

Oh spare me. You're posting on a public message board where despite TOS, peoples' identities can and do get found out,

Facebook for all of its faults is the single greatest tool out there for keeping up with friends in other cities, particularly when used responsibly. Beyond that, I found my current running club through facebook, got involved in my local neighborhood association through their postings, read the minutes from the CAPS meetings I've missed on my ward's page, etc... I won't even start on the amount of news an information that can be had in seconds from Twitter... everything from the local police scanner to traffic reports before heading home to finding out Terry Gross is interviewing one of my favorite authors tomorrow on NPR.

As for the bolded point, give me a f-cking break. It's 2015, your image can be everywhere whether you're "tagged" or not. I've had closeups of my face on ESPN when I was in the crowd at a sporting event... holding a beer of course. You can find pictures of me running a Tough Mudder-eque event if you search for my name on the event's website and yes both things are archived. At a friend's birthday party and someone asks to take a group picture? Guess what? It's going on the internet. The harsh reality is that in a world where every device has a camera you can't hide from archive in media or social media anymore. Is there a risk to being on social media? Sure, but I sure as hell ain't landing an MLS contract with my beer league goalkeeping yet I could sustain a head injury and end my career tonight trying to stop a breakaway.

God forbid I end up on the Daily News for something. I can only imagine what my neighbors would think when they see my facebook profile and think, "How horrible! that psychiatrist really enjoyed cross country skiing and had liberal views on mental health policy!"

Plus, if I'm ever accused of some horrific crime it's comforting to know that my social media photos could get poached. The only other option would be my drivers license/passport, and quite honestly the DMV does a great job of making me look like an axe murderer.

 

[familyaerospace]

@familyaerospace

Thanks for the time you put into the answer to my question. It sounds like you come from a larger city; I wonder if the different cultures between more populated areas and more rural areas might account at least somewhat for the differences in our philosophy.

@NeuroSpeed

Possibly. I do originally come from a decently large city originally which was a suburb of a very large city. I was born in South Florida, both parents were reasonably well known before the internet was a thing as they worked in the media. My father busted me on something in 1996 on yahoo when I was 14. Then again in 1999, when I was 18. He didn't like something on my online resume which was on tripod and told me it was going to cost me a job. I've caught him googling me and searching for me as recently as last year. He hasn't complained about anything since 1999 so I assume that means he doesn't have much to complain about.

My mother actually had something on Facebook bite her in the butt a few years ago. Her employer found out how she was treating her son (me) and fired her. Needless to say she now keeps everything locked down and I am now not talked about on Facebook.

Currently live in the middle of nowhere, a town of about 3, but my grandmother lives up here so I am trying to help when I can since my work is more portable. Town before this one was a town of about 100, lived there for 9 years. Both unincorporated. Most of my work however is still performed out near Atlanta where the waitstaff will friend you on Facebook.

 

[gannicus89]

I say...abandon social media. It just generates narcissism and insecurity. Also, sometimes, it can make you look like a douche. So it's just better to be off it.

 

[Kaustikos]

I say...abandon social media. It just generates narcissism and insecurity. Also, sometimes, it can make you look like a douche. So it's just better to be off it.

I joke with this statement regarding narcissism and douche: you mean qualities of a surgeon?

 

[gannicus89]

I joke with this statement regarding narcissism and douche: you mean qualities of a surgeon?

Aha. Nice.

 

[saudades]

My personal rule is: if you have to question whether something is appropriate to post, it probably isn't. I don't see any need to completely shun social media.

 

[MetalloBetalactamase]

I sterilized my official Facebook page. Burnt ground. My official FB is family and medical/science interests, with only the most tame photos. I keep a second lurker page under and cartoon character and a separate email. I talk to some of my friends about politics mostly, I sort my friend based on trust. If I don't trust you, you get the real me, if I do you get the cartoon me. I have a wide circle of friends on FB who do the alias thing as well. Rule one is don't post pics with any forensically identifiable portion of yourself to social media anymore. Period.