Search Engines Attract Self-Searchers
A recent report released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicated that 47% of U.S. adult Web users have searched for information about themselves with the help of a search engine. Back in 2002, this figure was only 22%.
This reflects an increased awareness of the wealth of personal information that can be found on Google and other major search engines. Still, 60% of Internet users said that they were not concerned about the information about themselves that was available online.
Another finding showed that 53% of U.S. adult Web users searched for information about friends, relatives, co-workers, and various other non-celebrity people. Women were found to be more likely to search for information about their significant others.
About a third of these users who have conducted queries about others searched for public records, including bankruptcies. Roughly another third have searched for someone else’s photo.
Three-quarters of these searchers admit to doing so only once or twice, and the majority has found the resulting information to be accurate. Just 4% of Web users in the U.S. say they found embarrassing or erroneous information.
The growing awareness of public reputations that can be formed through online search results has led to the increasing concern for managing what turns up when one’s name is searched.
