On sites where I have to reveal my real name and can't hide my profile, I am now using a Unicode obfuscator to make my name difficult to find for search engines. Also, I have now started using a username generator so nobody can trace my username from site to site. Because I'm using a password manager, this is rather easy to do.
Unicode obfuscator:
http://obfuscator.uo1.net
Username generator:
http://www.spinxo.com
These are what I used. They're not the only ones.
@stolas For password management, I use KeePassXC (desktop) and KeePass Touch (iPhone). I sync the password file to Dropbox (if your passphrase is good, nobody can decode it anyway). There are other password managers out there, but that's what I use.
@thor but what if fwiends are trying to find you
@Igeljaeger Are they really your friends if they need a search engine to find you?
@thor mmmh well maybe not "real friends" but I do podcasts for example and like it when people find me through that on social media
@Igeljaeger If you want to be found under your true identity, you can't really maintain privacy. It's best to use a pseudonym. I was too much of a publicity whore during my 20s to care about hiding my identity. I'm still working to erase all the footprints I left.
@thor Well Igeljäger is my pseudonym. I thought you were talking about that.
@Igeljaeger It says "real name" in my toot.
@thor Oops...
@Igeljaeger Using my real first name on here is actually somewhat careless, but fortunately, most people assume it's fictional, and it's a very noisy name to try to Google. Someone examining my post history could probably work out who I am quite easily, though, so, again, it's a bit careless.
@thor It's funny, because most people have the opposite desire: they want to claim their preferred usernames on many different sites. You probably *want* someone else to "steal" your username, because that makes you harder to search for.
@thor nice idea!