How do highly selective colleges track your internet?

[Bob Jones]

At school I was told that colleges (especially the higher ones like Stanford, MIT, Harvard, etc.) can track every single thing you do on the internet at home, including internet history, facebook, myspace, flickr, youtube, etc.

Is it true? Or is it just some made up story to keep students from going online? And if it is true, how do they track you?

[Skylark in ♥]

It is true, but not in the way that you described. College admission committees do not operate in the Big Brother invasive surveillance sort of way that would be unethical, time-consuming, and illegal. However, it is quite common for highly selective colleges to do a routine internet search of their applicants to find out more information about them and see if there is anything relevant they need to know that was left out of the application. Employers routinely include internet searches as part of their background checks for potential employees. They primarily just have access to what you decide to put on the internet. There are website tools that can show the sites a person uses and give links to their profiles, pictures, blogs, comments, and other information that has been posted. If you have profiles on Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and anywhere else with your real name, that can be pulled up on an internet search quickly. If someone else has posted pictures or videos on their Tumblr or Facebook, or made comments about you using your real name, those links will also appear in a search of your name.

I'm not sure who told you what you've written here (a teacher? a friend?), but I imagine the reason they did was for you to use caution with what you post online so you don't accidentally cause problems for yourself. Never put anything on the internet that you'd be humiliated for college admission committees, future employers, or your grandparents to see. Even if you delete the post, someone else could have screenshot it or download it, so assume that everything has the ability to be permanent and easily transmittable. Use privacy settings on all your accounts, and be wise about what you post. Consider using a nickname or an alias rather than your real name. I've never had an account - anywhere - on the internet with my full, given name. None of my online activity has ever been illegal or immoral, so it's not like I'm trying to hide myself; I just feel more secure with anonymity, and more free to be able to use social networking sites without worry. I use a nickname on my Facebook and Twitter, and aliases on here, YouTube, and Photobucket. I recommend that you consider doing the same. You can still make it so that your friends can find you by email. You can also change your Facebook setting so you're not searchable via the internet. If you use Tumblr or Blogger change the RSS settings so it's not publishing your feeds. Be aware of the pictures and the videos that you post, and the ones you're tagged in. Google yourself and see what comes up.

~ skylark : )