Stephen Yeargin

Google-ing yourself is not as perverted as one might think on first hearing of it. For we happy few with uncommon names, it can become a pastime or an effort to see how far we have branched out on the Internet. Perhaps it is even a way to find out what conclusions others might draw from poking around our various online persona.

What is most unsettling about the phenomenon is how little control we have over the the information. Sure, including your name in your MySpace profile or — ahem — buying your own matching domain name can offer a means to controlling (or at least directing) what others find out about you on the Internet. Still, news stories, press releases, other people’s blogs can erase any illusion of privacy. Employers Google applicants before making hiring decisions. Casual acquaintances will glance around to find out more about someone. Even reporters will use such information when piecing together a feature or investigative piece, although I find this to be a bit lazy if it is not further corroborated.

Can anyone expect to ever have anonymity in this connected age? It is easy to confuse privacy with anonymity, but both offer a feeling of comfort because every action will not be under scrutiny by the masses. Now, as soon as a friend posts that old picture of you from college, there is a chance that it could come back to haunt you. There is nothing like being sheepishly confronted about the presence or content of a personal Web site. Of course, I have learned to roll with it and to some measure get a handle on what information is released. If I see a site or profile that I no longer wish associated with my name, I make a point to to go to that site and remove or obscure any identifying information. Nobody really cares what Web comics I was reading in college.

On the other side of the coin, many have made a living off their private lives played out for the entire world to see. While I cannot really understand this voyeurism, I see that if the story is appealing, people will come to read or watch it. Only the Web superstars ever make a comfortable living off of sharing their waking moments or profound thoughts with the rest of us. Cottage industries for “blog ads” have sprung up, while others have found other ways to monetize their content. For example, PSDTuts is a site for learning some pretty nifty effects in Photoshop. Here recently, the site’s owner began charging for the finished example files. He then invests the money in paying others to write tutorials. If we assume that this idea pans out, it would join the growing field of freelance bloggers.

I shoot for the middle: A private citizen that happens to have a public blog.