To Google - Is it Too Last Century?

Do you Google other people?  Do you Google yourself?

This week, I had a conversation with some of the instructors at my karate studio.  I've googled them all, as I do with just about everyone.  Stop looking at me like that - don't tell me that you don't do the same. I look at the background of anyone that comes in contact with my kids, and I find that Google is one of the quickest ways to do that. Not a fail safe way, as there is always something that doesn't jell, and often people have the same names, so you have to weed out the good from the bad.  But it's one of the quickest, most concise ways to find out a LOT of info in a short time.  I look on doctor and malpractice boards for the doctors and nurses that they deal with, study teacher reports for the school teachers that they have, and check pedophile reports in our area periodically. I look for information everywhere, and in some cases, I've found some eye opening stuff. I've googled my husband, who doesn't use his given name but a nickname, and he appears very little online.  Most of it is in conjunction with me.  Various other family members have large online presences, and some people are non existent.  My mom has the same name as a dentist who has been very prolific in her life.  My dad has the same name as a general manager of a surfacing plant.

One of the instructors has zero presence on Google.  Zero.  I commented on it in passing.  The other instructors couldn't believe that they were really on Google, and had to see for themselves.  What followed was a very fun 10 minutes, looking up various people with the same name as one of the teachers and the shocking realization that one of the youngest instructors is already a well known actor on a major PBS series.  They, in turn, couldn't believe that I wasn't on Facebook or MySpace. (edit - I am NOW on Facebook.  Guess what I did ALL weekend??)

Am I missing something here?  Is there a cool factor to those two programs, and I'm too unhip to know, or am I really lacking something in my life by not participating? I really don't have much desire to hook up with many people from my past, except maybe a girlfriend of mine named Kathy C., who had two kids the same ages as my oldest.  We hung out together with our four kids for a couple of years until she and her husband moved.  I also don't need to know where school mates are, although I do admit it'd be nice to know where Pete and Patrick are, two guys I went to Junior High and High School with, one of whom is the guy who brought me home from the Worst Senior Prom Ever.  And there's one person that I know where he is, but it's impossible to keep in touch with and so rely on google every random couple of months or so to see if he's still alive.  Which, uh, sounds really morbid.  But it's not. Pinky swear. ;)

So - the questions are - and, yes, I know, I ask a ton of questions, what can I say, I'm inquisitive - do you Google people?  Do you have a Facebook?  Do you have a MySpace?  What are the benefits of either?

And why should I?

_____________________

And, ok, I wrote this last week, and didn't post it, and then this weekend up and started a big fine hot mess over at Facebook.  But the people that I'm on FB with are the same people I'm on twitter with and the same people whose blogs I read and who read mine.  So what's the draw - am I missing something?  Does it make it easier to find me - hahahaha, as if THAT was so difficult!

Comments

[amie]

1. I love in MD and always check public court records and registry of sex offenders for everyone our kids encounter. Thru these searches I located a man who lives in a neighborhood (a swanky one too) about 1 mile from us and attends our church. I always walk the kids to the restroom if they have to go during mass.
2.I love Facebook_but maybe I am a dork. My girlfriends and I say goofy things to each other and stay caught up on family activities. It has been a nice way to stay in touch with and keep an eye on my teenaged nieces and nephews as well.
3. Not sure if I am googable- we have a website for our business so maybe :)
.

[Roxymommy]

Yes, yes and yes. I google everyone I can think of when I am bored. I have a myspace and a facebook. I think the draw for me is the fact that I've lost touch with every person I went to school with or was friends with after school, yet I still think about them and want to know what they have been up to!

[A]

Love to google..although, I am un-google-able due to my name. Too many hits. Love FB too, although, I am not sure I get it. (remember, I am OLD!) :-)

[Roses]

Not only have I Googled myself, but I have my name on Google Alert, so if anyone ever posts my name on-line, I get alerted to it with a link. (Found out there's another woman with my name just 30 minutes from me.)

I finally broke down and made a MySpace page just in case old friends were looking for me. Then, I found out half the people *I* was looking for are on Facebook. :P

[kalisah]

I find facebook is a good way for me to keep up with people. It's kind of a conglomerate of email, photos, sharing events & news & information. I don't use it so much for the folks that I blog & twitter with, but with family and friends that are spread out around the country.

[Megan]

Well, four years ago when FB was only for cool college kids, everyone knew that only posers were on myspace, of course.

I think I got that impression because when I first got a facebook account, I was in college, and FB was only for college students and was regarded by many as safer than myspace. Plus myspace was for anyone (hence why it was unsafe), and FB was our own little world that the high school kids just couldn't infiltrate. Now anyone can get an FB account. Over the years I've told my 100 something friends more than they ever needed to know about me (e.g., "Megan is SO READY for this nasty sore throat virus to go away"), kept tabs on people I haven't talked to since college or high school, and developed a good friendship with a guy I saw every week but rarely ever had much time to talk to face-to-face. Now that several of my families members have joined FB and I'm also linked to some co-workers, I'm much more careful about what I post. Not being much of a phone person, I really enjoy the online interaction.

And yes, I do occasionally google people(I met my boyfriend online and I certainly googled him before we met in person) but facebook feels a little less stalker-ish. I can understand why you google your kids' friends' parents, but I'd feel a little weird writing to an old friend and saying "hey! I googled your name and found out you're living in New York now!" Searching Facebook, however, feels a little more socially acceptable. Also, I know from googling my own name that it's not always easy to tell whether you're really bringing up the person you know or someone else with the same name. I can't believe how many people out there have my name.

[Angela in Ohio]

My kids call me a cyber stalker because I google people. I have a myspace but I only got it so I could spy on my kids. They're adults now, so I /we just call it "keeping up to date" now! One of them is in college, so "spying" isnt out of the question for me! Somebody up comment wrote about a sex offender. Long story short--my kids were victims 16 years ago. I still check every month to make sure the offender is still registering like he's supposed to. (he is)

[jen]

I love Facebook...lose too much time there. ;) I use it to keep up with friends in my neighborhood, old friends from high school and college, and play games with friends. But yes, I do Google when I have time to kill or need to check on someone. I've Googled my name, and laughed my butt off. Very first result is for a transsexual porn star. Not me, BTW. Bwahahahaha...

[Tammy]

I don't have much success googling people...I guess the people I search for have names that are too common and I never find the one I'm looking for anyway.

I'm new to facebook and loving it. I've been in touch with people I haven't seen in 20 years or more. I've found 2 friends I thought I'd lost touch with forever that I had not been able to find on myspace or google but very easily found them on facebook. In fact tonight I had dinner with an old high school friend who was in a nearby town for a couple of days and guess where we just recently got back in touch with one another....facebook!

[Ruby]

I have a myspace and a facebook. I just started on facebook and don't have a lot of people. I like both becuase I have been able to catch up with a lot of friends from high school. 2 of my friends were really good friends in high school that I drifted apart from, so it's nice to have lunches and keep in touch with them. Myspace can be a bit annoying with all the things people can add to thier pages, but I just try to avoid those pages.

I must not google people right becuase I never find anyone I know. Is there a different way to google people?

[Headless Mom]

As you know I joined FB last week too. Although I have found many old HS friends (I planned our last reunion and suspect I will do the rest,) I'm actually not sure I'll stay. My lives are converging and I don't know how comfortable I am with that-mostly since I blog without my real name-mostly for the protection of my kids. We'll see.

[Kathy B. in West Texas]

I Google people/companies that I had interviews with when I was looking for a job. I Google almost anything I want to know something about. I LOVR to research on the computer, and when I had time, I loved to plan trips.

A couple of years ago I went to S Ill by way of STL, & got great rates on flights, and also on hotels. Through some site that I forgot now, I got a great rate on a Hotel in downtown across from the new stadium in STL...for $40! I LOVE GOOGLE!!!

[kyooty]

I try not to relive my early internet days, LOL

[Jess]

I have all of the above. I have myspace to monitor where my son goes with his myspace. I have livejournal which is very private, my son's blog which is my favorite, I update that and I have everyone read that.
I have twitter, which I only use if I need to text to tell the world that I am drunk and is anyone home. I dont like having that option (as I found out Saturday night). I didnt even remember texting it till i read it on Sunday... joy* I have facebook, and I network with friends and co-workers, I enjoy facebook right now, but I do not know if it is something that I will keep or if it is just a flavor of the month type of thing

[Jess]

Oh and yes I do stalk people on Google. That is how I found out a good friend of mine wrote a book LOL. I stalk everyone I can.. my husbands relatives, whom I found out one of them has a DUI.

[Pat]

I've put my Dad's name in Google and found there were a couple of pages on his plane crash during WWII, with pictures of his training squad. He was very pleased to see their pictures and reminisced about them all.

Although I'm not a total Luddite, I fail to see the benefits of being on Facebook or MySpace. I'm, admittedly, paranoid about identity theft, and want minimal amounts of my personal information on the Web. One of my brothers does have his own space, but it holds no appeal for me.

Pat

[MelissaS]

I'm a librarian, so it's my nature to research people and things. I google lots of people, and also have a Facebook account. I am currently trying to link up all of my cousins (21 of us) on FB, though I'm convinced some of them are still Luddites. Although I also am friends with lots of people whose blogs I read, it's a way to get to know them on a more personal level. And it can never hurt to network! Search me out and "friend" me!

[Linsey D]

Hi Carmen:

Just wanted to mention. If you are trying to find friends from school Classmates.com is terrific. I've reconnected with several friends that way. Enjoy your blog very much.

[Traci]

I googled the ex social worker in my girls case before we got permanent custody. It's a good thing she did not have kids as her myspace was quite a site to see!

[emma]

Hmmm. I don't google people much, mostly because I forget to, and when I do remember, I don't like sorting through all the extra listings to find the one I want.
I do Facebook, but it does seem a little redundant to me so I don't check that often.
It's fun to say hi to old aquaintances, but then you have nothing to say to them which is why they became old aquaintances in the first place!

[Lyz]

I am on Facebook - I like the security more than MySpace. Also, their "personalized" backgrounds kind of drive me nuts.

I just googled myself for the first time in a while - holy cow! Not much for my married name, but lots under my maiden! Thanks for the heads up - maybe I'll have to do that Google alert thingy...

[Thumper]

When no one else is home, and even the cats aren't looking, I Google myself. And I'm always disappointed. =sigh=

Once in a while I spend huge chunks of time trying to find old friends; I only have about a 2% success rate, though. I suck.

[Karen]

I actually Google myself all the time and other people too. Myself so that I can see what nasty things might be out there about what I've written professionally and others because I'm just plain nosy. As for Twitter and Facebook, I only use FaceBook for my "real" self and Twitter for my "blog" self -- and never the two shall meet (if you know what I mean). I have clients on my Facebook page who probably wouldn't appreciate that I'm blogging more than I'm working for them....

[Stacey]

i don't Google people very often because it just never occurs to me to do so. I have no web presence with Google either. Someone else with the same name has a large one though. She is a hottie, blond, about 15 years younger than me. I'm sure anyone who Googles me without knowing me must get very confused when they meet me.

I don't see any point in the Facebook thing because like you all my friends on facebook are the people I know from twitter, blogs and forums.

[Jennifer]

I face book now, just because it's fun and easy. I used to google people too, but not so much anymore. Sometimes I do the google earth thing to see where people live, or what our beach house will look like. But that's about it.