When Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) needed to find information on her celeb-artist boyfriend, Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov), she knew right where to turn. With just a touch of her keyboard, she was at google.com where she discovered the womanizing past of her lover-in-question. Carrie was outraged; Google had come through.
Most of us probably haven't ever made the same sort of startling find that Carrie made, but using Google for personal investigatory work--or perhaps mere ego indulgence--has become a favorite pastime of many. The word itself has become so notorious that it is now an official verb of the English language, while the company now controls 70% of the global marketplace of internet searching.
What better way is there to delve into the random details of ourselves, our friends, boyfriends and girlfriends? Consider: How else would you know that Recess Arts Lead Writer Gillian Barnard took time off before she came to Duke to model--even though she's "very shy?" Or that Music Lead Writer Paul Crowely once ran the 2001 Topsfield Fall Foliage Classic--a 5 mile road race--in 51 minutes and 39 seconds? Or that Senior Editor Whitney Beckett is "the kind of person [she] wants to be today because [she] went Kappa?"
It's not necessarily the most interesting material on earth, but when it's about you or the person you have a crush on, it can make all the difference. Any find becomes exciting--and can alter our perceptions of ourselves or other people.
Try it out if you haven't already. You might just be amazed at what you find.
--Dean Chapman
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.