I was a teenager in the early to mid-2000's, so of course I was playing video games and throwing around slurs and insults and what have you -- words I've grown out of saying "for the lulz", of course, because I know they can hurt people and I honestly don't get anything out of saying them. But if you look hard enough there's a record of that online, linked to my real life identity, and in the court of public opinion that record would overrule any actual beliefs or policy positions I have as an adult. "This guy says he stands for gay rights, but look at how much he casually used the f-word as an insult on this Counter Strike forum."

This isn't something previous generations have had to experience in politics or in the workforce and it'll only get more ugly with time. The kids today who are in their teens are churning out exponentially more troubling data than I ever did. Just imagine what kind of political mudslinging fodder that will provide in 20 years.

This holds me back from seeking public office as well...

Reminds me of this NDP politician in Calgary that had some photo of her surface in which she was holding a joint and giving the flag the finger. It's completely irrelevant (and could have been a joke for all we know), but I'm sure the fact that it surfaced stung her like a thousand bees.

I believe at some point in time we will have stop caring about these sorts of things because eventually everyone will be affected to some degree, but that time is not now.

I know I've said some really harsh / mean things to people on football forums in the past. It was stuff that, to me, was clearly hyperbole and jesting between fans of opposing teams, but if somebody dug that stuff up and said "Look at what this guy said", I'm pretty sure it would have an impact.

Luckily, the one time I ran for public office, nobody was arsed to go looking. Or I got lucky and they didn't find that stuff and realize it was me.