Don't tell the Google!

[green_amber]

.. said Ish last night, horrified at finding that we could find her degree, place of work and work telephone number from Google, when she thought she had no online presence of any kind..

SO..


[Poll #694457]

Comments

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

I've said 'be suspicious' since I'm assuming that a professional contact would be someone working in my field, and it would be ... odd ... if someone in my area didn't have at least some web presence. Although things have changed - time was when the people I knew at a University would basically account for about 80% of their University's website. Nowadays it's a right bugger trying to find basic contact details.

Actually, writing this I realise that I'm mostly dealing with other professions at the moment as part of a building project - architects, engineers and builders - none of whom have substantial web presence except their corporate sites.

I generally don't search for people I meet socially - mostly because it doesn't seem worth the bother. Unless it's someone who really sparks my interest in them in a big way. I turn up the search juice to maximum near-stalking level on the rare occasions I meet someone IRL for the first time when I've only met them online, unless someone I know and trust IRL knows them reasonably well, or we're meeting as part of some larger general gathering.

I wouldn't generally regard it as suspicious that someone I met didn't show up online, unless they had claimed a background that ought to show up.