The new site called Wiki names is in the process of attempting to collect names from all over the US. They also offer those same names for $8.99 as domains. It probably doesn’t matter if your name is Tom Smith but if you are a blogger and your site is the only listing for that name, what happens if some freak starts using it in a less than honorable fashion. If you have published anything on the internet, you need to read this.
I have a very distinctive first and last name. In fact, random searches have revealed that I am sole owner of a misspelled West African First name and Caddoan American Indian Last name. All of my poetry and professionally published work are written under this name and every now and then, I will google it out of curiosity. One day, I just so happened to stumble across a site known as Wiki Names. It is cousin to Wikipedia, and anyone can can edit the collection of names listed. According to the website, they are in the process of collecting a list of every name in the world, as well as sites associated with that particular name. It’s sounds great doesn’t it? Not so fast, because if you have ever published, blogged or used your name on the internet, it could be dangerous for you career wise. If there is only one listing for your name, it may also list your city and age, especially if you have google adsense or are listed on classmates.com. They offer the name for purchase as a domain; all for the low cost of $8.99.
There isn’t much you can do if your name is Tom Smith. However, if you happen to have a rare name and you have published children’s books or whatever; imagine if some freak decides to purchase the domain name and use it as a porn site? With all of the googling that goes on prior to job interviews for certain positions, what happens if your rare name happens to be associated with such a site? It’s something to think about.
Just out of curiosity, I did a search on a few names such as Barack Obama, and Whitney Houston, in order to see if their names were offered. All of the options for their names were altered to something like; barackobuskobama.net or whitsneyhouston.com. Whitney’s name was most interesting because their are at least 18,343 listings; all of which are not the superstar. So why did they bother to mix up the spelling of the name, while other names I found, such as Kihesha Adkins and Kihei Ahuna; who each have one listing, are sold as is? This is definitely something to think about for young bloggers, and writers, because if there is only one listing for your name, and the local pedophile purchases it as a domain, you can count your professional career as ruined.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
NICE ARTICLE