Categories: Articles

Google Me

I am always amazed to hear how many people have set up Google News Alerts specifically on their own name. It’s equally surprising to hear the tales of what they discovered about themselves.

It is a great first step. If you’re reading this Six Pixels of Separation Blog, odds are you’ve gone and Googled yourself already. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? I recently came across a senior executive who told me that he had, indeed, Googled himself. He was happy to report that there wasn’t much there. He saw that as a good thing. I did not.

I guess perspective is everything.

For some, having no Digital Long Tail is a good thing. I can respect that, but in this day and age, it’s going to be increasingly difficult to convince others that you’re a top-level performer, and yet have nothing about yourself show up in a Google search.

Here’s a reality check: if you’re looking for a job, whoever you interview with is checking you out in Google. If you’re up for a promotion, they’re doing it too. Have you recently asked someone out on a date? They’re checking you out on Google (and Facebook too, probably).

It’s a mainstream activity.

Don’t believe me?

Check out the latest single/video from Teyana Taylor. It’s a song called, Google Me (just click on the link – don’t even get me started why Universal Music does not allow us to embed their videos from YouTube… grrrr….)

Hat tip to my little PR buddy, Chris Clarke (via Twitter).

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.