Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Googling

Sometimes when I'm bored, I'll Google old friends, classmates, and acquaintances to see what they're up to these days. I suppose it'd be easier to find more information on them if I just joined Facebook, but that would never be a simple decision for me (because I have this irritating ability to make everything complicated).

For one thing, if any of my current/former students tried to friend me, I'm not sure if I would be willing to accept their requests. Either they might find something on my Facebook page that would get me in trouble, or they might see how boring my life really is and say, "Wow. Now that's just sad. All she needs now are a bunch of cats and some wool sweaters," or "She always seemed like a nerd, but this just confirms it."

I didn't go to my high school reunion, because a) I wasn't really excited about seeing the people who made fun of me on a regular basis, a few of whom thought it was hilarious when they made me cry; b) I don't really want any of them to see me until I make a bunch of money, drop another dress size, or marry someone really handsome (which I will totally rub in the faces of all the people who ridiculed me for not having a boyfriend in high school, so THERE!); c) I thought I might revert back to the person I was when I was a teenager, and I like the person that I am now better, even though I still like listening to pop music that makes everyone else cringe. (Except for Justin Bieber, because even I have to draw the line somewhere.)

So I rely on Google to find out what everyone else has been doing. Here are a few things that I found out:

I found out that one of my classmates from high school did an independent film where he goes around half-naked in several of the scenes (though it wasn't a porno).

Several of my classmates are still living in the same town that we all grew up in.

One guy was arrested, though I'm not sure if it's the same guy I was friends with. The article I read described someone with the exact same name and same age, and he lived in the same area that the guy supposedly moved to.

I went to summer camp when I was fourteen, and there was a boy there my age that I had a crush on. We wrote letters to each other after camp, because we lived in different towns. I found his obituary through Google. He died young, in his twenties. I still have the letters that he wrote to me, and now I'll always keep them.

Several of the girls that I went to high school with now have children of their own, some of whom are going to the same schools that we went to.

There was a guy that I had a crush on in college who saw me make a fool of myself at least eight different times (because I also have this irritating ability to say stupid things, fall down, and wear weird outfits that look okay when I try them on in the store but end up making me look like I just graduated from clown college when I go out in public). He's married now, to a woman who looks like she could be a model and probably never trips over herself.

I also Googled myself, just out of curiosity. I found an article that I wrote for the college newspaper when I was an undergrad. I found my name in the listings of faculty members for two of the schools where I worked as a part-time instructor. I also found online reviews of myself on those despicable Rate Your Professor websites, which were obviously created by students who know nothing about teaching (if they spent even just one week as teachers, they'd take those sites down because then they'd know just how difficult teaching is and wouldn't create sites that let students bash their teachers). I did find a couple bad reviews about me, but I found a couple good ones too. I only visited the site once, though. Why give them more traffic anyway? 

Googling myself and all those people made me realize how much has changed over the years, and how much my own life has changed. Despite all the information that Google can provide, I'm not sure if I would recognize most of those people if we passed each other on the street. I wonder if they would recognize me.

What about you? Have you ever Googled yourself or people that you used to know? What kinds of things would you not want people to know if they Googled you? What kinds of things would you want people to know if they Googled you?

16 comments:

  1. I'm a facebook hold out too :) I've never googled anyone from high school, but that could be interesting. I guess I just think that the people I really care about I keep in touch with.

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    1. Hi Angela,
      I might end up joining Facebook eventually, but only because a lot of coupons for restaurants are only available through Facebook and I want free/cheap food. :)
      I haven't really kept in touch with most of the people I went to high school with, though; we all just kind of grew apart.

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  2. Oh fine, yeah, I do this too.

    I've also been Googling myself a lot lately (more than is healthy... once every few weeks...) Even working in media, I can't really justify that kind of behaviour.

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    1. Hi eemusings,
      I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with Googling yourself. I've always had this fear that I'll find something embarrassing about myself online, which is why I Googled my name in the first place.

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  3. I do google myself from time to time, mostly to make sure nothing weird is happening since my name is on my blog and website. That was one of my favorite posts I've read on your blog. There's so much emotion in it and it makes you think about how much changes. Also, some nice bits of humor as well. What jerks get their jollies by making someone cry. Buttholes.

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    1. Hi Libby,
      Thanks! I like this post too. It made me think about all the different paths that people take as they grow up.
      I'm not sure why some of the people from high school acted like that. They thought it was funny, and these days they'd probably deny it or they'd think that it wasn't a big deal. But they'd be wrong.

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  4. I think it's great that you don't use Facebook. I've been thinking about deleting mine, but I do rely on it to keep in touch with friends on the opposite coast.

    Re: high-school reunions, I think I'll skip mine until I can really show off my wealth and fabulosity since graduating. I got picked on in HS, and there's a bunch of people I'd rather never see again.

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    1. Hi Tsaritsa,
      I figured that if I joined Facebook I'd spend as much time on it as I do on Youtube, and I spend too much time on Youtube. :)
      High school reunions are tough because it's almost like being in high school again, except everyone is older. But a lot of the social pressures are still there.

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    2. I've never had Facebook either. I like keep a low profile. But sometimes I kind of wish I had it so that I can sort of keep in touch with acquaintances that I meet at school or work.

      I've only googled people when it comes to the person interviewing me for a job interview...I just do it for preparation purposes.

      I still run into some of the people I went to high school with from time to time since many of them still live in the city. I try to be nice and say hi most of the time or sort of nod my head, but sometimes some of them pretend they didn't see me or quickly turn their heads after the initial eye contact.

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    3. Hi William,
      I've Googled prospective employers too; I read somewhere that it's good to get background information on them so that it'll give you a better sense of what the job is going to be like.

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  5. I am on Facebook because the majority of my family live in North America while I live in England. I have googled myself ( and almost always regretted it). I don't goggle people I went to school with because I suspect I might feel inadequate :)

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    1. Hi D.J. Kirkby,
      Sometimes I feel envious of other people that I used to know; through Google I found out that they're living in Europe, which I've always wanted to do. I haven't really traveled in the past ten years, but I still want to. I think it'd be cool to live in England.

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  6. It's amazing what you can find out on Google :)

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    1. Hi Lynda,
      It's true. I wouldn't know anything about any of my former classmates otherwise, unless I attended one of the reunions. I'm not sure if there will be another reunion or if I would go if there was one, but maybe...

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  7. It would be easier if you were on Facebook by far. You could confirm those rumors and things you wonder. On the upside, you don't have to see lots of people's kids' photos and hear how wonderful they say their life is.

    Sounds like you hold up pretty well on Google searches. I have a feeling a few people are envious of you.

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    1. Hi Theresa,
      I may join Facebook eventually, but I'm still not sure that I really want to. (Deep down, I think I don't want to.) I Googled former classmates and acquaintances because I was curious, but I'm not sure if I would accept all of their friend requests. I think I'd only accept requests from people like blogger friends and other people I was interested in connecting with.

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