Take a look at your image in the Internet mirror; Google Search your name, FR screen name

The Dallas Morning News ^ | April 16, 2004 | By TOM MAURSTAD / The Dallas Morning News

[MeekOneGOP]

Take a look at your image in the Internet mirror

07:42 PM CDT on Friday, April 16, 2004

By TOM MAURSTAD / The Dallas Morning News

Have you ever googled yourself, maybe late at night, when nobody else was around? It's OK, you can admit it – everybody does it.

It's called "self-googling" – entering your name into the popular search engine to see what hits come up. And thanks to a communications professor at the University of Buffalo who researches online behavior and relationships, self-googling has become the latest mini-craze to sweep through the media and over the Internet.

It all started with an article in the university's student newspaper on April 8 in which Alexander Halavais, the aforementioned communications professor, asserted that "self-googling" wasn't merely an act of vanity or boredom but really an increasingly important act of image maintenance in our Internet age.

In the days since, follow-up articles and accounts have been pinging around the electronic universe. See for yourself: Google the phrase "self-googling."

"It's been a strange kind of fun to be at the center of this," says Mr. Halavais. "One, because this behavior is nothing new; it's known on the Web as 'ego surfing.' And, two, because this is not really the focus of my research."

Whatever you want to call it, checking out who you are and what's being said about you on the Internet is rapidly becoming a common-sense practice in a wired world. Think of it as the digital equivalent of looking at your reflection as you pass by a mirror, checking to make sure your hair is unmussed and there's nothing stuck between your teeth.

"It's truer for some than others, but more and more you need to be aware of and manage your online image and reputation. I talk to a lot of students who are applying for jobs, and they take for granted that a Web search is part of the process."

So, go ahead. Google yourself. Who knows what you'll find out?

Of course, Alexander Halavais knows exactly what he's going to find next time he gets the urge to self-google.

"That's it, I'm branded. From now on, I'm the self-google guy."

E-mail tmaurstad@dallasnews.com

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041704dnartselfgoogle.310f4.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Interesting. I put in my real name and screen name and was surprised.
Especially on the Google Image Search.

Here you go. Check it out. Go here and enter your screen names and your real names:

Google Image Search

Google Search

[speedy]

Hi Meek -- all I get are a lot of muffler shops, windshield repair ads, car rentals, document copiers and, oh yeah, a little bit of Alka Seltzer. Looks like I need a more interesting name. (But it actually IS my name!!)

[prion]

It helps if your name is Alexander Halavais. Try being a Bob Brown or Bill Wright and see where it gets you.

Mostly, it gets me pages and pages of geneology sites.

[skinkinthegrass]

...all I get are a lot of muffler shops...Looks like I need a more interesting name. (But it actually IS my name).

HA!HA!...LOL! :))

[MadelineZapeezda]

Yep, some of us are .... here

[Riley]

Googling my real name, I found a bunch of imposters.

[Dog Gone]

[baltodog]

The baltodog I found looks nothing like me...

[Glenn]

I was named after a certain famous musician. Googling my name is an exercise in futility. I like that.

[speedy]

Hi Skink -- bet you have an interesting Google too -- do you have skinks in Kentucky?

[bondserv]

bondserv.html

Pretty cool!

[quantim]

Did you mean: quantum  

Nope!  LOL.

[Tamzee]

Too much self-googling will make you go blind ;-)

[John Jorsett]

Apparently, I'm the only Jorsett in the English-language Google universe! Bow before my awesome power!

[Gabz]

Bump for later ............

[not-an-ostrich]

I read this article several years ago, tried it and found a $93 state tax refund I had never received.

[Tamzee]

I heard it called "vanity search" back about ten years ago....

[BunnySlippers]

I got nothing at all on my real name. And lots of photos of bunny slippers on my screen name ... some as large as snow plows.

[hope]

hmmmm...