Because I’m Special
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:40 PM by Min
And also because I have a lot of free time at work again, I was reading this fascinating article about Google twins (people with the same name found via Google searches) in the Seattle Times. In the article, there is a link to a website that calculates how many people share your name in the U.S.: www.howmanyofme.com. Of course, I couldn’t resist (I dare you to resist).
The results…drum roll
| HowManyOfMe.com | ||
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But rather than feeling very proud, I feel a bit sheepish. This means that every time someone wants to Google-stalk me, all the results will be me and only me. And that’s a little weird, especially when I see some of the links out there. Like, some supposed teacher used my poem (a quick little exercise poem, no less) for their class in February? Or that strange new age place that jacked one of my articles, making it look like I wrote for them. And then there’s that Pirates of Dark Water petition to release my beloved cartoon to DVD…um, ha ha ha!
I guess I’m mostly wary because I’ve already had one problem after being Google-stalked before a job interview last year. The interviewer found my biography on my portfolio website and completely and utterly misconstrued an innocent sentence about how I was much happier when I switched from being an art history major to an English major; she somehow thought that I loathed the University of Washington. I can only imagine what that woman thought about my Pirates of Dark Water for DVD release petition: “This person advocates software piracy!”
But on the flip side, at least I’m not an emerging writer who shares the same name as someone who writes sleazy romance novels. Sadly, such is the fate of my fellow contractor:
1 hour, 13 minutes later
Ok, I’m confused. I put in “Hugh Amick” and was told there is only 1 person with that name. We’ll, considering it’s Tyler’s name, too – it’s wrong. Thoughts?
2 hours, 24 minutes later
I didn’t put this in the post, but I know there was at one time another Mindy Messenger who worked at a toy store in the late 90′s. The single article that mentioned her name disappeared a few years ago, and with it, her Google existence.
The websites “accuracy information” page will answer your question: http://www.howmanyofme.com/accuracy/
In short, the data isn’t that accurate.