Yes, I Have Been Googled!

Recently, after I was assigned to write a feature on a prominent man, I Googled him to do some research on him prior to the interview. I find if I do that, it makes for a more informed interview in the questions I pose.

So during the actual interview, after I introduced myself to this well-respected man,  he repeated my name back and immediately rattled off some of my recent writing works.

“Wow,” I thought to myself. “This must be a fan, this is a reader who really follows what I write.”

Wrong again. Silly me. I had been Googled! If it was something I had thought to do, why on earth didn’t I think he would do the same?

For those of you who think Google is a noun, it has also become a verb, as in “to Google someone.”

Admit that you’ve done it. That hot photographer you met at a fundraiser. Never mind that you ogled him through the large part of the evening; you immediately went home and Googled him.

Isn’t it a kick in the pants to think about WHO might be Googling you? A lost love, or a long lost friend perhaps? Someone who wants to find your great Blog because you moved it off a major newspaper site???!!!

It must say something about my substantial ego that I think I have fans of my writing work from all over the place. It is part of my own little made up fairy tale that plays over and over in my mind.

The rest of that fairy tale goes something like this: some hotshot publisher discovers my raw talent by following my work. I leave the grind of features for a juicy book deal.

I guess I am lucky that I have a body of work, along with this blog, and that people can find my work easily on the Internet. Isn’t that better than being anonymous as a writer? I admit that I have even Googled myself to see what comes up. Fortunately this Blog is a top hit. Thank you for reading me to everyone who has found me this way!

There have been times where I have Googled a person for a future interview and turned up a whole lot of nothing.

Googling might be a great tool, but it is also kind of scary. There is a whole new stalking tool available these days. And this isn’t even addressing the stalking that can be done via social networking. I admit that I Facebook stalk on occasion. Now with that “Find out who has been checking out your profile” tool available I am a little more hesitant to do that though I am not even sure if it works.

Still, I will take the risks of too much information being shared with sites like Google and Facebook, than go back to the days when it was more time consuming to do background research on people. It’s a great writer’s tool.

One person’s writing research tool can turn into another person’s worst nightmare. Any funny or scary stories to share? Just hit the comments link below and let me know! I would love to hear from you!