The Digital Tribunal of Old Likes

"My shidduch was called off because of a comment I left on Facebook when I was 17. The guy's family hired someone (or did it themselves) who literally dug through my entire internet trail. They unearthed my old, long-abandoned page, where as a teenager I had argued with someone in the comments under a post about secular music and used a couple of harsh words.

The shadchanit called my mother and said: "The family is declining any meetings. Your girl has an aggressive character and questionable interests in her past." I'm 26 years old. I'm an established professional, I teach tradition to children, I do charity work. That comment was written by a foolish teenager nine years ago! But the internet forgets nothing, and people in the shidduch world know no mercy. Now, before submitting every profile, I spend three days scrubbing away my old digital traces, as if I were a criminal in hiding."