The interesting stuff is what happened after the date when contradictory information began to appear.
Most people's identity gradually changes over time. The usefulness of knowing what they've done comes entirely from being able to predict what they will do in the future. If all you've got is stuff > ~5 years old, it's virtually useless. Occasionally, if you're running for public office, some newspaper will dig up dirt of something inappropriate you did in college, but all you have to do is say "I'm horrified and ashamed that such embarrassing old stories have been dug up now, and they in no way reflect my beliefs or actions today" and most of the public will give you a pass. Most of them did pretty horrifying and shameful stuff when they were in college too.
This also suggests a general way to erase yourself from the Internet: just stop posting. Eventually, all of your old posts - if they don't get deleted by sites going out of business - will simply cease to be relevant, and becomes active misdirection for people trying to predict your actions now.
> This also suggests a general way to erase yourself from the Internet: just stop posting. Eventually, all of your old posts - if they don't get deleted by sites going out of business - will simply cease to be relevant, and becomes active misdirection for people trying to predict your actions now.
It is most definitely not that simple. You're giving people too much credit in thinking that they can let go of the past, rather than making snap judgments from first impressions. You really think an employer is not going to be negatively impacted by seeing an off-color racist joke in an old blog post you made in college? Especially if that blog post is the second thing that comes up in Google results after your LinkedIn page because you don't have anything else attached to your name?
No one cares about predicting your future if they have no interest in associating with you in the present.
Just ignore the people who don't want to associate with you, and focus your energy on the people who do. It's usually a good idea anyway: people might not like you for one of a zillion different reasons, and you probably will never know which one it is, and it doesn't really matter anyway since you're not likely to change that assessment once made.
It's good to stop making those racist jokes because it'll bias the folks who want to hang out with you towards those folks who a lot of other folks don't want to hang out with, but most people judge based on the present reality, and the ones who don't usually aren't folks that you'd want around you now anyway.
Most people's identity gradually changes over time. The usefulness of knowing what they've done comes entirely from being able to predict what they will do in the future. If all you've got is stuff > ~5 years old, it's virtually useless. Occasionally, if you're running for public office, some newspaper will dig up dirt of something inappropriate you did in college, but all you have to do is say "I'm horrified and ashamed that such embarrassing old stories have been dug up now, and they in no way reflect my beliefs or actions today" and most of the public will give you a pass. Most of them did pretty horrifying and shameful stuff when they were in college too.
This also suggests a general way to erase yourself from the Internet: just stop posting. Eventually, all of your old posts - if they don't get deleted by sites going out of business - will simply cease to be relevant, and becomes active misdirection for people trying to predict your actions now.