How to get a blog comment removed from the New York Times?

April 14, 2009 8:09 AM

For Google-sake, help me get a comment removed from one of the New York Times' blogs.

Several years ago I made a comment to a blog maintained by the New York Times using my full name (poor judgment, I know). As I have a very unique name, whenever you Google my name the blog post containing the comment is always returned in the first few results - all these years later. The problem is, this comment, while not completely inappropriate, makes me look like somewhat of an ass. I would have no problem if this comment was buried deep in the Google search return, but it always comes up in the first few results, even though I have several professional accomplishments, articles, etc, that are much more relevant but which appear later. I'm guessing this is because Google interprets any occurrence of my name on NYTimes.com as of high importance/relevance. I might need to look for a job soon and I don't want this to kill my chances when employers do their due diligence by Googling me, and see this.

I have emailed the Times several times using their feedback form and have not received a response.

Does anyone have any suggestions for helping me get the Times to remove this comment, or at least removing my last name from the comment?

posted by gagglezoomer to computers & internet (28 comments total)

This is not possible. Move on.
posted by odinsdream at 8:16 AM on April 14

Not to rain on your parade here, but there's been numerous questions like this in the past and the upshot is that there's not much you can do.

Still- have you tried calling them?
posted by dunkadunc at 8:16 AM on April 14 [1 favorite]

Might you plausibly claim that the comment was posted by an impersonator?
posted by onshi at 8:18 AM on April 14 [1 favorite]

Why not create a professional blog that is very SEO friendly?
posted by errspy at 8:28 AM on April 14 [3 favorites]

The reason the NY Times comes up higher in Google results is because of Google's secret search formula which puts larger emphasis on things that are linked to more often, like the NY Times.

Are you already on Linked In? Their results tend to come up high in searches, so you might try setting up a profile there if you haven't already.

You might also set up a profile for yourself on ClaimID, which helps people manage their online identity and also tends to come up pretty high in search engine searches.

Then, in these two websites, you can link to your myriad professional accomplishments. It won't make your NY Times comment go away, but it might push it lower in results or at least mean more relevant webpages.
posted by bluedaisy at 8:30 AM on April 14 [3 favorites]

This is a common question here (but I'm too lazy to look back for them). I believe one of the favorite ideas is to flood the net with really great comments and blog entries, so that in the medium term those show up above the older, stupid one.

Another idea to is start using a slightly different version of your name on resumes etc. (ie go from "Zippy Uniqueguy" to "Zip Uniqueguy".

Or get plastic surgery and move to Alaska.
(sorry Alaska)
posted by Xhris at 8:31 AM on April 14

Thanks everyone so far for your help. I tried searching for previous questions but to no avail. Maybe it was because I was limiting the search to New York Times comments -- I'll try a broader search.
posted by gagglezoomer at 8:38 AM on April 14

As I have a very unique name...

Steve Jones?
posted by Jaltcoh at 8:42 AM on April 14

Since you're basically anonymous here, you might as well post the comment so we can all tell you whether it's something you need to freak out about. You probably have a distorted view of the situation.
posted by mpls2 at 8:44 AM on April 14

As I have a very unique name...

Steve Jones?

Okay, I fixed that... Obviously not my real name.
posted by gagglezoomer at 8:45 AM on April 14

Since you're basically anonymous here, you might as well post the comment so we can all tell you whether it's something you need to freak out about.

Do not do this! Posting the text of the comment here would make it simple to discover your real identity, should you wish to keep this separate from that...
posted by onshi at 8:51 AM on April 14

Since you're basically anonymous here, you might as well post the comment

Um, except that it'll match a post at NYT with his real name on it.

Don't post the comment here.
posted by rokusan at 8:51 AM on April 14

Here's a similar recent question
posted by mikepop at 8:52 AM on April 14

(on preview, shitsurei, onshi.)
posted by rokusan at 8:53 AM on April 14

Use your name to post a few dozen comments on the NYT and other websites. Create the illusion that another person with your name exists. You could even create a blog for them. If you are energetic, create a few identities for your name. You might not be able to remove the NYT comment, but you could make it seem like it is not you who made the comment. This assumes, of course, that the comment was not so specific to you that no one else could have made it.
posted by acoutu at 8:59 AM on April 14 [2 favorites]

Couldn't you just post a ton of comments on other NYTimes articles, using your real name, thus making those more likely to be at the top of the search?
posted by Slinga at 9:04 AM on April 14 [7 favorites]

I'm no optimisation expert but perhaps your best bet is to post regularly to the New York Times under your real name, with sensible comments on recent articles. This would drive the older comment off the front page of google and also bury it in a flood of nondescript, acceptable commentary. You may find an employer willing to sift through 300 comments while vetting you, but 300 moderate comments will certainly go some way to nullifying the threat of the one bad one.
posted by fire&wings at 9:06 AM on April 14 [1 favorite]

Or what slinga said.
posted by fire&wings at 9:06 AM on April 14

Can you summarize the comment? As what you may feel terribly embarrassed by might actually be nothing to worry about at all.
posted by mippy at 9:35 AM on April 14

Why not create a professional blog that is very SEO friendly?

That would only take up two search results in google (because results are grouped by website)

I would just go and make a bunch of innocuous posts on various blogs using your own real name. Hopefully the NYT article would get swamped out. There was a metafilter user who ended up becoming kind of notorious for signing his posts, but it turns out he was also trying to bury some old, negative news about him. If you did a Google search, the old news was on like the second of third page. If you Google him now you can't find it at all (maybe the story disappeared anyway)
posted by delmoi at 9:35 AM on April 14

Make a new account on Metafilter and start signing your name to your posts. Todd Lokken.
posted by davey_darling at 10:12 AM on April 14

I'm not sure I understand the issue.

Yes, your name comes up with an unfortunate comment that you made. So what? If someone ever asks, simply state that it must be another whatever your name is. Done and done. (That is, unless the comment makes it easy to determine that it's actually you, with either location information or enough background that someone looking for you would figure that out.)
posted by disillusioned at 10:50 AM on April 14

Can you summarize the comment? As what you may feel terribly embarrassed by might actually be nothing to worry about at all.

So what? If someone ever asks, simply state that it must be another whatever your name is. Done and done.

It's pretty obvious it's me. The post has to do with profits of companies in a specific industry, to which I responded with a general, derogatory comment about managers employed in that industry. Since I work in the field, it would be pretty hard/impossible to convince potential employers that I am not the one who made this topic-specific comment. I'm relatively sure there are other individuals who work in my field or a similar field with my name.
posted by gagglezoomer at 11:03 AM on April 14

....that there are NOT other individuals...
posted by gagglezoomer at 11:13 AM on April 14

Related.
posted by Johnny Assay at 12:09 PM on April 14

You can own your own Google results by posting other stuff that Google will find before the old comment. Here are some other things you can do (I'm not saying these are all good ideas, but just to give you some examples):

Post 10 more comments- ones you can be proud of- on the NYT site with your real name.
Grab www.YourName.com and create a little bio site or blog. Put your name all over the site (title, pages, first few words of blog entries).
Get YourName.com linked on a few big sites so your page's Google rank rises.
Change your Facebook page listing to "public search page".
Make a profile on a few other big sites- MySpace, LinkedIn, Classmates, etc. You can leave them blankish, but use your real name.
Make a Wikipedia entry for yourself if your professional credentials are appropriate.

Privacy Through Identity Control, by Anil Dash is an article that deals with this type of issue.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 12:11 PM on April 14 [5 favorites]

They're not going to remove it. So your time would be better suited following the good strategies suggested here for burying the thorn by covering it with roses. You can spend ten or twelve hours arguing with some web lackey at the New York Times, or you can spend ten or twelve hours writing brilliant, insightful posts to the Times and other high-index-value venues, so that those will turn up in droves when someone Googles you.
posted by Sidhedevil at 1:25 PM on April 14

Here is a thought.

Ask Metafilter itself seems to always rank extremely high in Google results when I am trying to locate answers for people's question.

Create a new Ask Metafilter account that is your name — the same phrasing of the name used on the Times comment. Start actively participating here. I daresay that Mefi's GoogleRank might do what you seek – not through elimination.
posted by WCityMike at 1:27 PM on April 14