How do you hide your past online identity when you enter Academia? I worked before as a freelancer writer where I would review some tech products (phones, websites, online services... etc) and post them on YouTube (channels which I do not control), and both my voice and picture were appearing in these videos.
Now that I graduated from my Masters program, I want to pursue my PhD and teach in the university. I would like to start publishing some papers as well in my field.
However, my past online identity is haunting me; Anyone can search my name and instead of finding my Google Scholar page as the first result, they would see me talking about the features of iPhone 7 in a YouTube video, and it is embarrassing for me. Some political articles that I published online are also embarrassing for me as I enter the academic world.
Do most people in academia suffer from the same thing? How can one get rid of this past online identity before entering the professional academic life? And how can I be sure no one uses parts of this old identity against me in the future?
Firstly look into the possibility of changing your YouTube name. If this is not possible, see if you can create a new YT account and move the videos into this.
Whatever about YouTube, your academic name is better being different to your commonly used name: we are all entitled to a life away from our work and from any &quot;reputation&quot; that follows from this. How best to select your academic name depends on:

The country you are in

The commonness of your first name, middle name(s) and surname

Naming conventions in your country


So, for example, if your YouTube name is Pablo Garcia, your middle name is Enrique and your mother's name is Sota you might publish under the name P.E. Garcia Sota. Likewise if you live in Netherlands and your YouTube name is Johan Van Dijk, you might, if your middle name is Willem, publish under J.W.V. Dyck as the latter form is often used in English publications. English native-speakers might use a number of first name initials and maybe omit the usual one if it is unusual enough to be searchable. Irish people have the legal option of using the Gaelic version of their name. Doubtless there are other possibilities in other countries, there may even be regional naming conventions in parts of France and Germany.
Look into the options in your own country and then do some trial searches on the main engines. Be careful to avoid a name that already has an existing big persona attached to it, especially in academia, as Google searches will associate you with them. Use Google Scholar to help with this.
Discuss your final selections with those close to you.