Your personal brand is equal to your Google search results. That makes Egosurfing the Internet equivalent of 'How do I look?' It's the key to your resume, your permanent record and a journal of your life. Ayesha Nair finds out why everyone is Googling their own name
Your personal brand is equal to your Google search results. That makes Egosurfing the Internet equivalent of 'How do I look?' It's the key to your resume, your permanent record and a journal of your life. Ayesha Nair finds out why everyone is Googling their own name
It is something we have all done -- Googled our own name just to see what's online about us. It's known as "Egosurfing". The term first turned up in 1995 in nerd bible Wired. Your friends, family, lovers and co-workers are Googling you for fun or because they want to know more about you. Hiring managers want to see if you have a clean record online, because every move you make (even a blog comment) is stored there forever.
The good news is that it is about to get a lot more interesting. A new breed of sites will allow us to find every snippet of information available about someone far more easily. So, tracking down that classmate who quit in class four should become simpler too.
New choices
Russell Perry, the CEO of Vienna-based search engine 123people.com, says, "We realised that rather than a general search, what a lot of people want is all the information on a person in one place." So, 123people.com brings together sources such as telephone directories with social networking sites Twitter, Facebook and Flickr for pictures.
This way you can choose which networking site to pursue people through, rather than sticking to the one you already know about, as well as seeing, at a glance, a list of articles published by or about that person.
One of the key searches people are using on the site is still looking for themselves. "A huge number of people are Egosurfing, just to see what is out there about themselves."
Egosurfing flipside
The flipside of this is that surfers are now under pressure to have a 360-degree online presence, with Facebook, Twitter and a well-maintained blog being the minimum you can get away with, if you want to keep your personal brand up to date. So, Egosurfing becomes the Internet equivalent of saying, 'How do I look?'
Distorting information
An extreme byproduct of the Egosurfing craze are distorted entries on free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Engineering student Suyog Vyawahare, who is connected to Wikipedia editors, says, "An unregistered person can edit articles which are not locked. Disputed articles or entries that are regularly vandalised are locked by admin (administration)."
A registered person can edit semi-protected articles and admin can edit protected articles. Large MNCs reportedly have teams of writers and editors who compose their wikis (Wikipedia entries).
Search plans
Existing search engines are tackling the issue of collating personal photographs and social snippets. Google recently began trialling "social search", which allows people to look for long-lost friends. Microsoft has also signed a deal with Twitter for its Bing search engine.
There's a lot of money to be made feeding peoples' egos. Think social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and social networking sites like Orkut and Friendster, and more generic hangouts like Myspace. Clearly, ego massaging is a prudent -- sometimes, downright necessary -- activity in today's web-aware world.
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Confessions of the egosurfers
I Google my name for kicks
Medha, 21, model
You do it because you want to compare and see how popular you are. I've participated in a beauty pageant. So, that information appears along with a link to my school website. Since I don't use a surname, it's difficult to get links that are specifically about me. Most of the time, the information about a famous person with the same first name, like Medha Patkar, comes up.
I want to know if others google me
amol Parashar, 25, actor
I decided to 'Google' my name after reading an article on Egosurfing. I was curious to know what other people got to see if they looked up my name. I found back links to friends' blogs. I made a movie in college and have also starred in Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, so, my filmography is online too.
It feels great
Abhishek Saha, 25, actor
When I typed my name, images came up -- not from a public domain like Facebook but from articles about me. That felt great. I've directed a play called Bali. The Egosurf also threw up links to articles related to it.
Google wants you to look good
Google has introduced 'Google profile,' the search giant's fiendishly clever attempt to turn your ego-surfing pain into their gain. Once you create a Google profile, your name, occupation and location (and photo, if you choose) appears in a box on the first page of the search results for your name. Next to the thumbnail info, there's a link to a full Google profile page that, in many ways, resembles a Facebook page. Google Profile lets you set up a personalised page on which you can include links to your blog, Twitter feed or company website, and share online photos. There's room for a brief bio, along with a place to list your interests, places you've lived in and schools you've attended. The more information you add to your profile, the higher your page is likely to be ranked.
The handbook
How to look impressive on the Internet
First impressions
In a visual space like the Internet, it's all about appearances. Pick a flattering photo that best hides your flaws. Supplement this by adding quirky information about yourself and your interests.u00a0u00a0
Tweet right
Your Twitter page too is one of the first few links to appear. So, make sure you update your tweets often. Tweet your views on socio-political issues. Don't forget to make comments on the ongoings in pop culture.u00a0
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Follow the leaders
Follow the biggest names in entertainment, sports and politics. If some of them follow you, you have officially solidified your identity on the Internet.
Blogging banter
While signing up for a blog, don't be generic or banal -- people don't care if you had a tuna or turkey sandwich today. Pick a specialised subject to blog about, something you are well-versed with.
Video gaga
Videos are a great medium to leave your mark in cyberspace. Shoot and upload interestingly-shot sequences onto video sharing sites. Or pull something out from a holiday video.
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