Security experts recommend that more people should adopt a habit that Generation Z has been using for a while: Egosurfing. Because the recommendation for Egosurfing has a good and valid reason.
What is Egosurfing? Simply put, Egosurfing means searching for yourself on the internet. You type your name into Google and find out what information about you is circulating online.
This practice is widely utilized by Generation Z, while other generations (Millennials and Boomers) do so less often. Generation Z includes individuals born between 1997 and 2012. This is reported by colleagues from 3Djuegos:
- In a survey of more than 1,000 professionals with six to 20 years of experience, only 33% of them reported that they searched for their name online in the last year.
- 54% of respondents answered that they have never done this.
However, the experts recommend that Egosurfing should be used much more frequently. Boomers (1946 – 1964) and Millennials (1980s to early 1990s) utilize the method far too rarely, despite it being truly beneficial.
Our title image is a symbolic image and does not represent a participant in the survey.
Egosurfing is especially important as a means of controlling your personal data on the internet
Why is Egosurfing important? There are two reasons why Egosurfing can actually be very important:
- Firstly, because of privacy concerns: This way, you quickly discover what information, images, or data about you are available online. There may even be content featuring you that has been illegally posted online or images that do not belong there.
- Secondly, also for job searching: Many companies first check the internet to see if they can find information about a new applicant. In this way, you can quickly see what your next potential employer might find out about you online.
Because many companies have already integrated Egosurfing into the application process for potential employees. Therefore, the experts recommend: Anyone who is in a hiring process or actively looking for a job should use Egosurfing at least once a month.
The reason for this is that everything publicly accessible on the internet is also available to the company where you would like to work. And what you find about yourself on the internet is likely what a potential employer might also find about you online.
What exactly should you search for? You can look for all things and data directly related to you:
- First and last names
- private parts of your address
- personal identification numbers
- email addresses
This way, you can discover several important things about yourself. If you come across illegal content, you should report it directly to an authority to have it removed.
Among Generation Z, there is another trend, but one that should not be emulated: Job Ghosting. This is shown by survey data from a platform that interviewed applicants and companies: 78% of all applicants are said to have intentionally ignored the employer: Generation Z has a popular trend: They do not show up for interviews
