We are just a bunch of digital goldfish in a search engine ocean.

While reading Professor Havalais’ article Search Engine Society Draft Draft Draft I kept thinking about how I use search engines on the Internet everyday and their affect on me. Like Professor Havalais stated in his article Search Engine Society Draft Draft Draft, “The search engine has become much a part of our culture that there is a common assumption that we have found a cure for stupid question.” Today it is common to hear the phrase “Google it” whether it be from a friend, boss or teacher, this simple phrase has been accepted in our society as a way to instruct someone to search for something. In fact there is a website you can send your friends a link to if they do not use Google before asking a stupid question (http://www.fuckinggoogleit.com). Search engines’ technology continues to advance and change the way we search for information on the Internet. In order to search the Internet efficiently we need to know the trends of today and be able to predict what the trends of the future might be so that we may be able to manipulate the users and lead them to surf onto our sites and information.

Recommended Searches

Sociable search is a current trend that has the capability to increase and become a main function of search engines but also “vertical searches” are becoming increasingly popular and proved to be extremely effective. What I would like to see more frequently utilized is the “long tail” search approach or increased use of the “daily me” web search. This is probably already a reality but I want a search engine that tracks my searches so that it can narrow down my future searches to specific results so that I get the information that is most helpful for my needs. I know however by doing this I am giving the search engine a large influence over what my search results are and as Jen discusses in her blog, money’s impact is increasingly growing and large company’s can now pay to have a top hit on the results pages. (Which is kind of disheartening when you think of the Internet and what it has been founded on, Net Neutrality!) I would also like a mini information bar that recommends searches that may interest me based on the data received from past searches. (But they probably have something for that too.)

Digital Goldfish

I have a very short attention span, much shorter then the average adult; search engines help facilitate my short attention span by allowing me to follow many long tails on the Internet until I finally realize how off-track I have gone. This is great for when I am bored or just trying to waste time but for the rest of the time this is an ADHD kids nightmare. I am productive but it takes me twice as long to accomplish a goal (like writing this blog). Even while writing this blog I have been tangled up in the search engine web at least five times. As more and more adults are being diagnosis with ADD I wonder if it is just a product of our search engine society or if it is just doctors just wanting to prescribe us controlled substances and feed into the wealth of the pharmaceutical companies? Is the Internet enabling our short attention spans and actually creating disorders in people? I read a great article while I was traveling my long tail from the BBC. Turning Into Digital Goldfish talks about these very issues and what it means in our society today. My personal opinion is that it just a new element of our society and we must adjust to it medication is not going to help either (trust me I know!). James Watkins wrote a great follow up article How to Hook Today’s Online User, he discuses different tactics you can use to hook the online user and how you can take this digital goldfish effect and use it to your advantage. It does in fact have some positive qualities I did find these great articles and other fun distractions.

Information Overload
Besides getting caught on a website thinking “how did I end up here?” These search engines allow a large quantity of information at your fingertips. If you are not a “smart searcher” some of the information that you are lead to can be inaccurate or completely useless. If you enter a search on one of the main search engines you’re guaranteed about ten pages of results. This can be overwhelming how do you know what is accurate and best for your needs? Another way these search engines overwhelm their users is by providing so much information on not just the main topic being searched but by subtopics and other interesting facts. This can lead to a long tail that leaves you wondering, “What exactly was I looking for?” When searching for a resolution to a problem or just a question the search engines provides you with so much information that it sometimes raises new questions and concerns and you suddenly find yourself emerged in the internet with the first question not resolved and seven other questions waiting to be answered.

Being able to recognize how a search is used and operated is important and an extremely useful tool in our society. As a graduate student in an Interactive Media program it is important that I know how these search engines work so that I may know how I can manipulate their trends and their users so that I may be able to reach a specific demographic with my own thoughts and influence them.