Would the Real Roberta Hill Please Stand Up?

The first time you find out that someone else has YOUR name you are devastated. For most of us this happens at quite a young age. . . for me I was around 8 or even 10 before I discovered that anyone had the same name as me. To be honest I am not sure that I have ever got over it. I have remained very protective of my name; it is my brand after all. So I track how it shows up on the internet through Google Alerts. (Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of the post.)

Roberta Hill Whiteman, a Native American writer always seems to “beat me” on the Google searches, coming up number often 6 out of the top 10 on google. There is also another “Canadian” Roberta Hill who is a real estate agent in British Columbia. She owns the .ca domain that I didn’t purchase because I thought nobody would want it. Recently, we have all been competing on the google searches with an elderly Roberta Hill who has gained some notoriety for her appearance in a small documentary, Cinemaniacs, about five people in New York who are simply obsessed with movies. She has supposedly seen 1000 movies a year for over 20 years, although she’s been banned from some theaters. Here is the trailer:

There is “another Roberta Hill” located Maine that I have come across before but I wanted to write about how my name has been used lately as a “pen name”.

I have been annoyed for sometime now because a “bogus” Roberta Hill has shown up on EzineArticles listed as follows: “Roberta Hill is an expert on the subject of constipation remedies, and offers tips and advice on the subject on her site constipation cures.”

Who wants to be associated with constipation? Don’t laugh too hard! Maybe I am being silly but my name is my brand even if a couple of other people legitimately have it too. Right now I feel that someone is trying to claim to be me. Another colleague mentioned that is why she always uses her middle initial – which by the way I did for years until I began using www.RobertaHill.com

While there are obviously good reasons on using pen names in some instances, it seems that there are very few restrictions. The person writing for EzineArticles appears to come from India and listed as an expert on the subject of constipation remedies, Tooth Crowns and Dental Cleaning and care. I have requested that it be stated on their site that this person is using a pseudonym but I have not heard back. I would very much appreciate your comments on whether or not you think that I am being overly sensitive.

Finally, in case the title of this post rings a faint bell, the line is from “To Tell The Truth” a popular television show that ran from 1956 to 1968. Each contestant claimed to be the same person and panelists had to guess which one was telling the truth. The phony claimants could lie but the actual person had “to tell the truth” when questioned. At the conclusion of the show, the host would say, “would the real ________ please stand up.”

I know that I really shouldn’t take myself so seriously, so please enjoy this video . . .

Side note: In the sixties there was a show called “What’s My Line?” First episode was in 1950 and it ran until 1967. (You must check out some of the You Tube videos.)