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Of course you have. Everyone has. Anyone who says they haven’t is not to be trusted. It’s like looking in the mirror – you want to know what looks good, and what doesn’t. And more than likely, you want to look good. In appearance, and online.
Well, Entertainment Weekly is reporting the Reese Witherspoon admits to Googling herself when she is feeling down. From their article:
“Only in very, very dark moments—moments of pure self-loathing—do I type my name into Google. I know what I’m in for. You never read anything positive…You’re fat, you’re ugly, you’re tired, you’re worthless, you don’t have a career anymore, you’re a bad actor. It’s just an affirmation of every horrible feeling you have about yourself. Fortunately, most of the time I’m busy enough that I don’t have time to type my name into Google.”
Now granted, when Reese Witherspoon Googles herself, she will likely have to read a lot more negative information about herself then you or I would (well, hopefully). And her desire to read awful things about herself when she is feeling down seems a bit unproductive to me.
But what is so weird and shocking about wanting to look yourself up on the internet? In some cases, I’d call it good business practice- future employers just might throw your name into a Google search to see what you’ve been up to, so wouldn’t it be better to be prepared? And isn’t it sort of interesting to learn who else is out there with your name? I happen to know that there is another Laura Pomeroy living a few towns over from me, who is a champion swimmer (and the vain part of me can’t wait for her to retire, so I don’t have to go through pages of her swimming scores to even find a piece of info on me…).
I think when it comes to vanity, there is a line to be crossed – just like every other bad trait. If you Googling yourself on a daily basis, or are somehow upset or overly excited about your search results, I’d say maybe you might want to take a look at your self-esteem levels. But if you’ve just Googled yourself out of interest a few times, well I’d hardly label that vain. I’d say it’s pretty damn normal.
I think the ability to find oneself on the internet can give the searcher a mild sense of fame. Having your name out there for all to see – even though no one else may be looking for it – makes you feel like you could be known, and of interest to others. It also creates a sense of legacy; if the internet is actually around for another 100 years, presumably your name will be too, and that thought can be somewhat comforting.
So go Google yourself. And admit to it. It’s okay.
(That swimmer version of me even took laurapomeroy.com! It’s like she’s trying to one-up me on the internet. Is it normal to be a bit bitter about that?)
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I know some people find it interesting to take a look at what their ‘other selves’ are up to.
I am unique. I have a very obscure last name, and am the only ‘me’ on the internet. It is handy. Except there’s some weird American who uses my last name as a middle nickname. But it’s easy to realize that quick and use a -herlastname to pull out only my stuff.
I too think it is simply practical to google oneself. It is valuable information to know what another person might find on you.
I come up with two quotes in a city newspaper, a couple mirrors of each of those articles, a bit of information on a geneology website, and some old cross-country race results. I’m less than two pages.
I’m satisfied with what will turn up if anyone goes looking for me. They could conclude that I am a mountain-person who used to do some cross-country. Works for me!
I’m satisfied with what comes up on the internet for me when googled (namely, very little). There are a couple of me out there, though. Apparently one does Special Olympics in Minnesota?
So I never google myself, this is the second time I’ve ever done it (the first time someone found me and I wanted to know how so I googled myself to see what popped up) and I am completely hidden! YAY!
The only information on my name is the scores for a highland dance competition I competed in when I was fourteen. Never mind the fact that I’m a professional now, no that doesn’t turn up.
I Google myself every 6 months to see what kind of personal information is out there about me, and take down that information accordingly. At this point the only Google result that pertains to me is being on the Dean’s list, which will go away eventually when I graduate and they change it. I don’t want random people to be able to Google me, so I’m pretty careful about managing my online identity (or lack thereof)
I’ll alert 4chan.
I Googled myself a little bit ago and was pleasantly surprised. The only thing showing up was my involvement with Change.org and some reviews I wrote eons ago.
Google me bitches.
About 489,000 results (0.12 seconds).
Suck on that.
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