The same age that rental car companies have converged on for "enough" judgement to have developed.

Personally, I was ridiculously vulnerable to influence by social groups between the ages of 16 and 25. So much so, that I impulsively joined the Mormon church and threw two years away trying to convert other people to Mormonism. I also wrote an anti-Microsoft rant in a newspaper editorial, since I was so caught up in the Free Software hysteria of the time.

Fast forward 8 years, and I'm ashamed to have the name "Brigham Young" on my resume, and I work at Microsoft -- hoping nobody ever runs across the misguided crap I wrote about my employer in that local newspaper.

Several of my colleagues wish some public things wouldn't show up in Google searches for idiotic things they did because of societal pressure before their "adult" brains fully developed. They really are much more reasonable and responsible people now than they were then.

Have you ever considered that some people do things when they are 16-25 that they aren't ashamed of?

So what? I'm sure Microsoft is happy they could win over a critic like that.

How sad for you. My judgment at age 18 was perfectly fine, thanks.

By point of comparison, at age 23 Horatio Nelson was the captain of a warship and responsible for leading hundreds of men in combat. Nowadays we're way too tolerant of young people who refuse to grow up and accept the consequences of their actions.

I don't really think about it in terms of an age limit. To spell it out, my quibble is that the reporter quoted these kids by name and got them to agree to have their picture taken for publication, for a story that will likely give at least some prospective employers pause at some point.

It could also have the opposite effect and make the candidate more attractive, depending on who's doing the looking.

It totally could! If any of these kids want to work as, like, the software engineer-in-residence at a social impact VC, having this come up in a Google name search might very well be a positive.

I think that people vastly overestimate how much detective work that employers do, when hiring people.

I don't think companies are searching people's Twitter or Facebook accounts for controversial statements. The furthest that most would go is to call up a reference or talk to a previous employer.

Hiring committees don't have time to scrutinize every little last comment that someone has made.

Scouring someone's Twitter history != Googling someone's name and browsing the first page of results.

The former is overkill, the latter is done by everyone