Difference between revisions of "Ian Mascarenhas"

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−		+	We’ve all probably Googled ourselves before. In the age of the Internet, everyone seems to have some sort of online presence. Whether it’s intentional or not, we all have created this presence simply by interacting with online artifacts such as social media. In the past ten years, data has become a very important component of the internet. Some even refer to it as the new oil. As a result, our data isn’t just out there for the purpose of Googling ourselves and having a laugh, but also so companies and other interested parties can access it and treat it like a commodity.
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	==<b> My 'Google' Identity</b> ==		==<b> My 'Google' Identity</b> ==
	===Search Query: 'Kavya Pratapa' ===		===Search Query: 'Kavya Pratapa' ===
−	When I first googled my abbreviated name <b>‘Kavya Pratapa’,</b> most of my social media accounts (e.g. Facebook and Instagram) came up. Within the first page of my search results, I found details about some Quiz Bowl competitions from high school, a couple of local newspaper articles about me from when I used to compete in spelling bee competitions, and information about my Youtube account that I no longer use. However, I very quickly noticed that after <b>5 or 6 pertinent search results</b>, the information that came up was not related to me in any way. In fact, a lot of the other search results were about a Bollywood film in which the lead actress’s name was ‘Kavya Pratap Singh’ (see above image).	+
	===Search Query: 'Kavyapranati Pratapa' ===		===Search Query: 'Kavyapranati Pratapa' ===

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Revision as of 15:52, 19 February 2021

We’ve all probably Googled ourselves before. In the age of the Internet, everyone seems to have some sort of online presence. Whether it’s intentional or not, we all have created this presence simply by interacting with online artifacts such as social media. In the past ten years, data has become a very important component of the internet. Some even refer to it as the new oil. As a result, our data isn’t just out there for the purpose of Googling ourselves and having a laugh, but also so companies and other interested parties can access it and treat it like a commodity.

My 'Google' Identity

Search Query: 'Kavya Pratapa'

Search Query: 'Kavyapranati Pratapa'

On the other hand, when I googled my given birth name ‘Kavyapranati Pratapa’, I was able to find almost 5 pages of content that all had relevance to me! The top two search results were my Linkedin and WayUp profiles, but I also saw many more local newspaper articles about me from my spelling bee days within the first two pages. As I moved through the search results, I even found random blogs and discussion threads about the National Spelling Bee competitions that contained my name, with one user commenting how "with a name like Kavyapranati Pratapa, they can spell anything". What was most surprising, however, was finding a hashtag on Twitter of the very word that I misspelled in the 2012 National Spelling Bee!
Apart from 'spelling bee' related results, there were a couple pages that contained my name from other activities, such as my vocal performances, my Medium blog that I don't post on anymore, the university's Honors Convocation last year, and even under another data broker service FastPeopleSearch.com. It was pretty shocking to see how many different sources of information contained my name. There was just too much out there.

Self via Google

My Instant Checkmate Identity

The Inaccuracies

The Interesting Details

My Online Self - Instant Checkmate & Google

Spheres of Identity

References