Self-Googling
According to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 47% of all internet users have self-Googled, that is, performed a Google search for their own name. I have to admit that I am one of those who have self-Googled. It's interesting to monitor one's presence in cyberspace, even if one's cyberfootprint is rather insignificant. As of this evening, a Google search for "Rob Hardy" yields 46,300 results. Most of them have nothing to do with me. Most of them, including an Internet Movie Database entry and a Wikipedia entry (albeit a stub), concern the African-American film director/producer Rob Hardy, whose credits include Trois (2000), Pandora's Box (2002), and The Gospel (2005).
I did discover that my poetry chapbook, The Collecting Jar, is mentioned in the recent issue of the online newsletter Winning Writers, which announces the 2008 Grayson Books Poetry Chapbook Competition and reprints my poem "Cicadas." A Google blog search reveals that the same poem was also quoted on someone's blog back in August.
Have you self-Googled? If so, have you found anything interesting?
Meanwhile, to entertain Jim H. on his blogging hiatus, here's a link to an Mp3 of Lisa Marr singing "My Fascination." Lisa Marr's a Canadian singer best known for writing the song "NYC," popularized by They Might Be Giants (she recorded the original version with her old band, Cub). She also wrote the wonderful song "In California," covered by Neko Case on Canadian Amp.
I did discover that my poetry chapbook, The Collecting Jar, is mentioned in the recent issue of the online newsletter Winning Writers, which announces the 2008 Grayson Books Poetry Chapbook Competition and reprints my poem "Cicadas." A Google blog search reveals that the same poem was also quoted on someone's blog back in August.
Have you self-Googled? If so, have you found anything interesting?
Meanwhile, to entertain Jim H. on his blogging hiatus, here's a link to an Mp3 of Lisa Marr singing "My Fascination." Lisa Marr's a Canadian singer best known for writing the song "NYC," popularized by They Might Be Giants (she recorded the original version with her old band, Cub). She also wrote the wonderful song "In California," covered by Neko Case on Canadian Amp.
Comments
Thanks for the entertaining song -- very apropos. A lot of waiting around today at the esteemed Mayo Clinic, but at least they have many computer workstations (in addition to a decent tenor singing in the lobby).
I have been flossing continuously since 1986.
Same piece of floss.
Thank you, Rob, for the defense of my "art" on locallygrownnorthfield. It means a lot to me coming from a writer of such high caliber.
The only "noise" is a UK football team that has an Alex Mittell and another player named Jason...
Thank you, Google, for reaffirming my individuality.
When I started acting my web presence rose from a few mentions, to a dozen or so.
When I started writing on a blog, they went from that dozen to a couple hundred.
I just did an exact phrase search on my name, and Google gave me 2,450 hits.
Now, if I could only start collecting on that miraculous fame!
Rob, please don't self-google too often, lest you make Jesus cry.
The scary thing is that this stuff never goes away... In trying to track down old acquaintances, I've stumbled upon comments they've written on porn guestbooks, etc. That stuff can haunt a person forever!
Regards,
The "noise" from the UK. ;-)