Stop Googling Yourself

Funny thing about the interweb… with a few simple keystrokes, or speaking a few words (thanks Google Voice) we have access to detailed information about any topic we so desire. With a huge world of knowledge out there to explore, it seems almost laughable that 57% of adults in America have Googled themselves.  Do we expect to find out something we didn’t know about ourselves? 

And that brings up an interesting philosophical argument… what is the authentic self? The self we as individuals see in the mirror, or our self as perceived by others?  Rather than digressing down that road, let’s just presume the answer is somewhere in the middle, and whether driven by ego, insecurity, pride, or worry, seeing how we are portrayed across the web is important, especially as we continuing using the internet as a tool to share our life experiences. The uproar over Facebook’s recent personalization changes, and their subsequent response to make their settings more transparent shows how concerned people are with the security of their personal data online. Managing your identity online is important for any individual, as most potential employers (and even potential romantic interests) will Google people with whom they are looking to build a relationship. Our concern for our online appearance is important, but most self-googling isn’t based on concern, but rather vanity.

One clever copywriter exploited this vanity by creating a Google AdWords campaign based on vanity googling by some of the world’s top advertising executives. A $6 investment got him responses from 4 of the 5 names he purchased, and job offers from 2 of them.  If that’s not genius, I don’t know what is.