Smile, You’re On Google Images

I recently Googled myself. Admit it, you have too. This time I decided to check the Google Image results and I noticed that my Facebook profile pictures are appearing as top hits in the search results. This raises interesting concerns for anyone who thought their profile pics were somehow restricted to being viewed as search results on Facebook, like myself.

It turns out, though, that if your privacy settings allow other users (non-friends) to view your profile picture in the Facebook search result, Google will index it too.

This is interesting, because occasionally (ok, often) I see friends of mine using compromising pictures of themselves the day after a night out on the town. Though as a friend I am able to put these pictures in context, and balance the antics of a night out with the more stable characteristics I know the person to posess (a little Aristotle here), a potential employer would have no context in which to place the picture. On top of that, changing your profile picture will NOT erase it from Google, though it will erase it from the Facebook search result, so to speak.

I’m certainly going to think twice about the pictures I post as profile pictures. I have also since switched my privacy setting to prohibit my profile picture from being viewed by potential Facebook friends in the Facebook search results.

I’d love to hear if anyone else has noticed this or experienced any issues because of this.