Friday, October 12, 2007

OK -- now it's time to come clean about this 'practice'



I admit it. I’m weak. I sometimes succumb to the temptation, and after I have given in to my baser instincts, then I end up racked with guilt and vow to not go there again – at least not for a while.

Do I refer to carnal vice, unspeakable sexual practices, porn surfing, or any other salacious activity? No, those are all OK in moderation. What I am referring to is ‘Googling’. Yes, now it’s out and I almost feel a bit cleansed by the admission, for I am periodically given to ‘Googling’ myself. Now that I have declared myself and my weakness, I’d just darn well like to know how many of you do the same thing.

There was a time once when we would go through life never really knowing what sort of impression we made on others. If we were public figures, we got a bit of press and TV coverage, but if we were ordinary schmoes, then we could only rely on the lies of our loved ones to know if we had any sort of profile.

And then came Google, in all its manifold glory. All I (or any of you) need to do is type in your name and see just how many references there are to you. If you have a fairly singular name (as do I), then it’s pretty easy, since most of the references under my name, will refer specifically to me. If your name is John Smith or Susan Jones it’s likely a bit more of a challenge.

When I first began self-googling I made excuses for the practice. I told myself (filled with denial, of course) that I was only doing it for professional reasons. I mean, I am a writer and I wanted to know if any of myself was being picked up and reprinted elsewhere. But then, as always happens with our vices, it became a bit obsessional. I did it more regularly, and began seeking obscure references to myself, you know, way up on screen #15 or somesuch. Ultimately, and to my shame, indeed mortification, it became a daily practice. That was too much. I grew afraid that others might find out.

What is the motivation for such a thing? I guess I’ll have to concede that it’s ego. We like to know we’re having some sort of impact. And, ego is not such a bad thing. If Michelangelo’s had no ego, we wouldn’t have had ‘David.’ If Shakespeare hadn’t been ego-driven, then the Hamlet manuscript would have been left in some Tudor dustbin because humble Will didn’t think it was “good enough.”

So, we all need a tad of egocentricity. And, if you are feeling shunned and rejected; if things aren’t going so well at work; if your spouse thinks you’re a putz or putzette, then get out there and Google yourself. You might be refreshingly surprised.

So, time to come clean. How many of you Google yourself once in a while? How many of you Google other bloggers?

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16 Comments:

Blogger Tai said...

I have googled myself twice. And never really found anything interesting, 'cus I rarely use my real name.
Though once in a while, I used to googled my 'gentleman' callers before I'd go out on a date with them!

10:52 AM  
Blogger meggie said...

I have only tried once, & because my name is now totally different to the one I grew up with, I dont find me! Either of me! I have found LFT once or twice.

1:21 PM  
Blogger AlieMalie said...

according to google, i'm a blonde haired, blue eyed, 5'10" (that's actually correct) wannabe actress/model living in LA.

no joke.

so far, under my real name, you can't find me. which means, thankfully to me, that you can't find my blog that way either. however, if google aliemalie? eek. i take up the entire first page alone.

as for googling other bloggers? haven't done that. yet. let me get back to you on that. tomorrow. :P

1:41 PM  
Blogger jmb said...

Under my real name which is fairly rare there is someone with many references, but previously none of me.

However I just did it now and I (yes the real me) is number two on page 1. This is for a post of mine about Steveston which they asked permission to put up on their website and I used my real name. What a surprise.

If you google nobody important plus blog I am certainly at the top. Although there are a couple of others on vox.com or somewhere else, obviously not on blogger, but they are pretty quiet so it's me on top.

Have I googled other bloggers. You bet. I google everything, my favourite pastime.
regards
jmb

2:34 PM  
Blogger Angela said...

Oh, yeah. I sit and wonder what the hell I did before Google. Oh, that's right. I read.

I must google my name quite a bit because I own the space, and I don't *think* I have a particularly uncommon name. My last last name was even more common, and I owned most of the page. That was nice. I enjoyed it very much.

I have pretty much googled everyone I know. And I've run public records searches on some of them.

In my next life, I'd like to be a detective.

I ALWAYS googled a man before I met him. (This learned from having a spouse who called himself Todd Johnson -- not his real name.) Sheesh. Google is my friend.

I have worked hard to distance my real name from my blog. The blog used to come up as #4 on google just with my first name and last initial. Horror of horrors! I'm trying to stay anonymous here, people. I have exes!!! Uff Da!

3:27 PM  
Blogger Janice Thomson said...

Well hey I just did that now and because there are so many with the same name AND middle letter the real me is only number 6 on the page. Ha!
Not very important I guess. :) I have never googled other bloggers either but sure use it for everything else!

3:32 PM  
Blogger andrea said...

For a different angle on the positive aspects of googling one's own name check out this post of mine: http://didrooglie.blogspot.com/2007/01/other-me.html

4:43 PM  
Blogger heartinsanfrancisco said...

Last night, I discovered Google Maps, which includes street views of actual houses as well as satellite views.

I began demoniacally looking for the houses of everyone I know, but the street views seem to be available only in parts of San Francisco so far, including mine.

In fact, I thought of doing a post on this because where there are pictures, you can zoom right up to a window, which has many chilling ramifications.

5:05 PM  
Blogger Tanya Brown said...

Yep, I google myself and my domains, you betcha. I also google my estranged family members and their email addresses in order to "spy" on them. Other bloggers, not so much.

8:49 PM  
Blogger geewits said...

I googled my maiden name and all three of my married names and got to read about all sorts of people that were NOT me, including a notable NYC arts community fundraiser. (SIGH). However, when I google "geewits" I've found that I pretty much OWN the word as my blog is the first entry and pretty much every comment I've ever made on the internet fills up page after page. After page. After page. I haven't really googled any other bloggers, just a few people that comment that don't have blogs. I think it's funny that you were doing it so much, but it's really cool that you admit to it.

10:50 PM  
Blogger Casdok said...

I googled you!

3:59 AM  
Blogger laughingwolf said...

with blogspot now owned by google, is it a crime to admit to using yahoo, and others, before google became nearly de rigeur? :P lol

ah yes, the things i have found about myself, under my real name and online personas, so, since all of that is 'published', it MUST be true, no? haha

4:53 AM  
Blogger Synchronicity said...

oh absolutely...so much fun to google not only oneself but friends and family. it is a sad day when you google yourself and...nothing is there. boo hoo.

hey just wanted to say a big hearty thank you for you continuing to visit my blog and even when i am not responding so much. i am feeling much more ready to engage with the world now and look forward to catching up on your blog.

5:31 AM  
Blogger heiresschild said...

i only googled my username 2 yrs ago when i first found out about it, and i wasn't too pleased that i could be found so easily. i'm usually more of a private person, but since i've been blogging, that's changed. one can't help but be open when using such a public forum. however, i'm not there under my real name since i don't use it, so in a way, i'm still a private person. lol

8:46 AM  
Blogger Jazz said...

I've never googled myself, but I have googled a few people I knew back when to see if they were in there.

I don't know if I've never done myself because I thing a) something embarassing will come up or b) nothing at all will come up, thereby confirming I am a nobody on the world wide web.

Actually I think I just can't be bothered.

1:13 PM  
Blogger Jodi said...

I admit to googling myself. The best time was when I took my name and googled it along with other words. I never laughed so hard. For instance I would google, "My Name" angry. or "My Name" advocate.
I must have been really tired.

9:08 AM  

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