The Dreaded Self-Google.

There have been a lot of moments in my life where - the boredom that comes out of too much time spent on the internet - I've Googled myself. This is probably something everyone has done, either on their own, or with friends, to see what comes up. If you Google my dad, an article comes up that was in the Chicago Tribune about how a budget he'd submitted to the city council (he's an architect for a suburb of Chicago) was rejected - the picture has a caption that says "Raffel looks dejected." It's good for a laugh.

But there's more to be said about Google self-searches than simply "it's good for a laugh." It's a little scary as well. If you look above, you can find myself self-search, which features my Twitter account, my Vimeo account, a interview I did when I was published in a book in high school, and a Facebook page (a different Peter Raffel). If you go further, you find my Instagram, my Youtube account, my Tumblr, and even a podcast I uploaded in middle school that I attempted to do with my friends. That, in itself, is a little scary: when you put something on the web, there's an expectation that you're okay with everyone seeing it, but that's not necessarily the case. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want people listening to that old podcast or looking at my old Youtube videos - they're probably both pretty embarrassing. This issue also comes up when applying for a job: all a company has to do is Google you and see what's out there - and if it's anything that they don't like, you're not getting that job. The immediate access we can have to anyone is something new within the last twenty years: even if you stay off the web, there's still a chance there's something about you on there. That might not be that big of a deal, but still - the idea that anyone can access you anytime is definitely something to consider. Especially when your mom finds your Twitter and sees that you use a lot more dirty language than she ever expected.