With a rather rare name with an even rarer spelling (thanks to Tamilization, what would have been Abhinandan became something with a missing 'h' and an added 'an' at the end!), I'm pretty sure googling me yields results most of which are really about me. Even then, I remember googling to ensure that this blog's name was unique too.
On the other hand, if you have a common name -- say, Ajay Gupta or Ramakrishna -- Google may dump you into its 184-th page! Unless, of course, you happen to be the most noteworthy Ajay Gupta or Ramakrishna in the eyes of Google.
In this online world, you are what Google says you are, and if you are not easily findable on Google, ..., well, it could pose some problems. What kind of problems? Check out this WSJ story:
... About 7% of all searches are for a person's name, estimates search engine Ask.com. More than 80% of executive recruiters said they routinely use search engines to learn more about candidates, according to a recent survey by executive networking firm ExecuNet. Nearly 40% of individuals have used search engines to look up friends or acquaintances with whom they'd lost touch ...
The article also talks about someone choosing her child's name carefully enough to ensure his name appears on the first page on Google. By an interesting coincidence, I just learnt that Amit Agarwal -- India's first and most prominent pro blogger -- has chosen a curiously common name for his child: Google!
But one can't predict how many children will be born who share your child's name in the twenty-odd years between your child's birth and the beginning of his/her professional career.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, fifteen years ago Abigail Wilson might have thought that naming her child "Madison" would give it that unique cachet... ^__^