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Google Addictions
When you first got an internet connection, you had to surf and see what was there. At all hours of the day and night. With emails, you quickly changed your primary form of communication, away from letters and phone calls (or, god forbid, in person face-to-face interactions).
The cell phone made you fully connected 24/7 anywhere you went and you maxed out those minutes.
Text messaging, IMing and the Blackberry got you even more interfaced into digital communications.
As the digital world has expanded and the Internet contains an estimated 20+ billion webpages, most of us are overwhelmed with too much information. Too many emails, too many messages, too many newsletters, too many websites to surf. With so much stuff being delivered through the Net, a lot of information gets lost because it never reaches its intended audience. Which is why search and tools like RSS feeds are so essential. They help make the Net more managable and useful.
Dominating search is the Net's Holy Grail. Just like everyone Xeroxed when copy machines became essential office equipment (even if it wasn't a Xerox machine), everyone now "Googles" when they search online.
Today, you could easily get by without making a copy or sending a fax. You could probably handle not emailing, texting, downloading, uploading or using your cell phone for a day. But could you go a day without Googling? Believe it or not, people are having a hard time not Googling, even for things they could find in their Yellow Pages, their own rolodexes/day planners or even your cubicle neighbor.
Of the more than 5 billion online searches Americans conducted in December, 49 percent were entered on Google, according to measurement firm Nielsen/NetRatings. Google's share of total search activity rose 6 percent from a year ago. We are Googling more and more...and there doesn't seem to be any slowdown in the near future.
Are you a Google addict? Could you go a day (or two) without Googling? Personally, I can't remember the last day I didn't Google.
Is Google Anonymous around the corner?
related Wired article on the building Google addiction here.
posted by Unknown @ Friday, March 03, 2006,
