In the Loop: September 14, 2007 Archive

Is that you, or your "Googleganger"?

Posted at 10:30 AM on September 14, 2007 by Sanden Totten (6 Comments)

Anyone who tells you they don't Google themselves is lying.

We all do it. There's nothing like going through your sordid past on the Internet -- from your first posts on some discussion board to pictures from last year's holiday party. By the way, that "seasonal sweater" you had on? I'd leave that home next year . . .

But for some people, there's a problem. When they Google their names someone else comes up. That person is a Googleganger. It's someone with your very name, but often a totally different life.

Check out Maureen Johnson's blog for some examples. She's a writer in NYC who shares a name with a real estate agent, a crab conservationist and a loud-mouthed drama queen from the musical Rent. Apparently *that* Maureen Johnson is the best known of them all. The writer Maureen says she gets asked about the Rent Maureen regularly. It must be frustrating when your Googleganger gets more attention than you and she's not even real!

Do you have a surprising Googleganger? Come on, tell me about it! With a name like mine I'll probably never have a Googleganger so I need to experience the joys and sorrows through your tales of Internet doubles!

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