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

[Squantos]

LOL.......Is'nt googling yerself illegal in some states ?

Stay safe !

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !

My late uncle was retired Navy. He had several nicknames in in those days. A lot of folks called him 'Speedy', too.

I changed my screen name a while back, so MeekOneGOP doesn't bring up anything.

"MeeknMing" does, though ! A LOT of FreeRepublic.com threads !

[MeekOneGOP]

haha ! Me too !

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !! Well, Dog-Gone !

[Ditter]

Gee, what a let down. I guess don't exist, my husband doesn't either.

[MeekOneGOP]

Way to go ! ;^)

[HairOfTheDog]

My FR profile page hits high on the Google list.... only return that beats me is HairOfTheDog Brewery.

Google Search: HairOfTheDog

The particular threads that come up according to google are kindof odd, obscure old threads. Wonder what the sort order is.

My proper name is too common to register me... and I don't have much of a web presence under my real name.

[codyjacksmom]

Codyjacksmom comes up with a lot of FR threads. But my real name comes up with some other person completely. It even wanted to know if I meant a different spelling for both first and last names. I'd rather have the real me stay anonymous. LOL

[Fatalist]

Apparently, I'm dead. Suicide - very tragic.

Surprisingly, the second link it brings up actually is me. I'm the second most popular person with my name!

[speedy]

Hey, I thought that refund was mine. See you in court!!

[Spunky]

I have such an unusual first name that four years ago I Googled it to see if there was anyone else in this world who had my name.

I found a street named after me in the lovely town of Grass Valley, Ca. There is also some educators with my name.

[Libertina]

Cool...except one "close" spelling goes to a Spanish porn site... and another has a jpeg of Hillary at the men's urinal... Hmmm, perhaps the googling needs to be a but more "refined" ;) LOLOL

[Lady Jag]

All I get is a lot of pet food. I'm going out to lunch now.

[Exit148]

I found a lot of roads and signs. I wonder why?

I googled my real name and got a Salon interview about a "-----friendly older woman from NJ -----". Isn't that nice. (bleecht----)

[speedy]

Glad to know there's a Speedy in your family, too. Maybe we're related. (As the great philosopher Curly Howard once said "My mother and your mother are both mothers on our father's side.")

[Timeout]

All searches on my real name came up in FRENCH!
Merde!

My screen name, on the other hand, leads one to lots of travel sites for the Time Out guides.

[tiki]

I was lucky. There were 3 in my real name, 4 by the name that I'm known by and my screen name is very popular and has nothing to do with me.

[Tall_Texan]

I've done this a few times because I have the same name as my father. It's interesting to know that, while living in Texas, I'm also a city councilman in Georgia, a scratch golfer in Missouri and a known sex offender in Oklahoma (not me, honest).

Since I write for a few websites, what I usually get are past columns I've written or letters to the editors.

The "images" was a little interesting. There's a picture of my parrot, one of a namesake in Oklahoma from 1940, some extraneous stuff and some pictures taken from columns that are not me but are of the subject I wrote. My face, thankfully, is nowhere to be found.

[skinkinthegrass]

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

..yes :P

...and YES..there are a few subspecies of skinks in Ky...5-Liners, SE 5-Liners and a few Ground Skinks mainly...some Queen, Banded Water Snakes...

and Turtles...friends, found some small Soft-Shell Turtles @ Red River, Clay City, Ky. too! :))