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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

Posted on 04/18/2004 9:58:32 AM PDT by 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


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


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: google; googleimagesearch; googlesearch; name; screenname
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To: MeekOneGOP
LOL.......Is'nt googling yerself illegal in some states ?

Stay safe !

21 posted on 04/18/2004 10:22:16 AM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.)
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To: speedy
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 !


22 posted on 04/18/2004 10:23:03 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Become a monthly donor on FR. No amount is too small and monthly giving is the way to go !)
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To: Riley
haha ! Me too !

23 posted on 04/18/2004 10:23:53 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Become a monthly donor on FR. No amount is too small and monthly giving is the way to go !)
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To: Dog Gone
LOL !! Well, Dog-Gone !

24 posted on 04/18/2004 10:24:42 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Become a monthly donor on FR. No amount is too small and monthly giving is the way to go !)
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To: MeekOneGOP
Gee, what a let down. I guess don't exist, my husband doesn't either.
25 posted on 04/18/2004 10:24:44 AM PDT by Ditter
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To: John Jorsett
Way to go ! ;^)

26 posted on 04/18/2004 10:27:49 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (Become a monthly donor on FR. No amount is too small and monthly giving is the way to go !)
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To: MeekOneGOP
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.

27 posted on 04/18/2004 10:29:13 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog (Now I've said too much...)
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To: MeekOneGOP
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
28 posted on 04/18/2004 10:29:49 AM PDT by codyjacksmom
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Comment #29 Removed by Moderator

To: MeekOneGOP
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!
30 posted on 04/18/2004 10:32:03 AM PDT by Fatalist
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To: not-an-ostrich
Hey, I thought that refund was mine. See you in court!!
31 posted on 04/18/2004 10:32:37 AM PDT by speedy
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To: MeekOneGOP
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.

32 posted on 04/18/2004 10:33:40 AM PDT by Spunky (This little tag just keeps following me where ever I go.)
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To: MeekOneGOP
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
33 posted on 04/18/2004 10:34:46 AM PDT by Libertina
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To: MeekOneGOP
All I get is a lot of pet food. I'm going out to lunch now.
34 posted on 04/18/2004 10:35:19 AM PDT by Lady Jag (I dreamed I surfed all day in my monthly donor wonder bra (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate))
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To: MeekOneGOP
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----)

35 posted on 04/18/2004 10:35:32 AM PDT by Exit148 (Loose Change Club -- 5 quarters/5 dimes/1 nickel 11 pennies=$1.91 for last week.)
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To: MeekOneGOP
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.")
36 posted on 04/18/2004 10:36:03 AM PDT by speedy
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To: MeekOneGOP
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.
37 posted on 04/18/2004 10:37:22 AM PDT by Timeout (Down with Donks!)
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To: MeekOneGOP
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.
38 posted on 04/18/2004 10:38:11 AM PDT by tiki
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To: MeekOneGOP
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.
39 posted on 04/18/2004 10:40:58 AM PDT by Tall_Texan (The War on Terror is mere collateral damage to the Democrats' War on Bush.)
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To: speedy
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! :))

40 posted on 04/18/2004 10:42:10 AM PDT by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :)
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