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Showing Original Post only (View all)What Is Posted on DU Doesn't Stay on DU. [View all]
That's something a lot of us don't think about much. But, when you post something on DU, it's searchable on Google, and Google likes DU a lot. If you start a thread on DU in GD or any other public forum, you can search for your thread title a few minutes later and, if you put the title in quotation marks, it will be the top result in the search results page.
That's because Google constantly watches DU and ranks things posted here pretty highly. We're a popular website.
If you post something that is unique or emphatically worded in the body of a thread, that will also show up in a Google search, if you use those unique keywords.
Sometimes, if you type something extraordinary and if you are well-known outside of DU, that extraordinary thing will be found and posted on many other websites. Once that happens, what you wrote has the potential to go viral, if it is extraordinary enough or if you're well-known enough. Most DUers aren't well-known, but what they post here can still be found on Google.
You can see this for yourself. Just Google your own screen name. You'll find all sorts of things you wrote on DU in the search results, unless your screen name is very common. If you post a lot on DU, lots of results will show up. Usually, some of what you wrote will show up as well. If it's unusual, striking, or out of the ordinary, it's sure to show up.
All of this is to suggest that thinking about what you post on DU is worth doing a little. It will be searchable and connected to your screen name for a long, long time. In some cases, it may appear on other websites, including some websites you may not particularly care for or that don't represent your views. That's more likely, of course, if you're a well-known poster on DU. Then, it might show up on websites that dislike DU and what it represents very much. It could even go viral in ways you won't like.
It's good to consider what you write here and to think before clicking the "Post" button. Once you do, Google will find it and so can anyone else. It can be embarrassing at times, as I have learned myself. Being embarrassed by one's own words isn't much fun, which I've also learned. From learning that, I've learned to reread what I've written before posting it on DU.
If you want to see how it works, go to Google and search for this, including the quotation marks: MineralMan "Paul Ryan is an absolute Poopy-Head."
Wait a few minutes from the time I posted this thread, and you should find it right away.