QOTW: Somewhat Stalker-ish
March 4, 2008 | Filed under Q.O.T.W., Relationships/Men
It’s very sad, and somewhat stalker-ish, and might possibly get me weird looks in class if anyone ever found out about this, BUT: I looked my hot Aussie lecturer up on Facebook. It turns out he has a girlfriend already…so, well, waaaaah! On a plus note, he’s only two years older than myself, so well, yaaaaay! Of course, the waaaaahs far outweigh the yaaaaays, so the point is somewhat mute.
Doing my own private brand of Internet stalking isn’t exactly something that I would shout from the rooftops, lest others realise exactly how mentally unbalanced I actually am, but well, it made me think. Surely I can’t be the only one who researches, Googles, and screens all the people they meet, just to find out more about them?
You could almost argue it’s a security tool – you might meet a wonderful guy one night and exchange email addresses. Scenario One where you don’t Google his email leads you and him down the aisle, with yourself unaware of his world-class collection of Star Wars figurines and presidency of the Intergalactic League of Jedi Warriors, which will always take precedence over your marriage. Scenario Two where you do Google him leads you to the homepage of the Intergalactic League of Jedi Warriors where you find out about his obsession, and you manage to successfully avoid a second date with him.
Okay, so the situation is a little far-fetched, but you get the general drift – that sometimes you can learn more about a person by Googling or Facebooking them, than you can from what they say in real life.
Question of the Week: Have you ever Googled someone you know, and if so, did you find out anything interesting about them?
30 Responses to QOTW: Somewhat Stalker-ish
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I know that my uncle used to (and possibly still does) Google me on a regular basis, and even commented on my site once without leaving his name, but I recognised his email address. Later he brought up the entry he commented on at a party and embarrassed the shit out of me. Since then I’ve felt no desire to blog. All my Web sites either came down or went into lockdown mode. I’ve been fairly unsure of opening a new site because of it.
Jordie on March 4, 2008 #
Well, not googleing, but definitely facebooking. I did it quite a bit sometimes, but there wasn’t any sexual/love interest from my part. I was just curious… (am I lying to myself?)…yeah, pretty much!
Regine on March 4, 2008 #
I don’t think it’s stalkerish. If you could find him on Facebook, it means he wasn’t deliberately trying to hide himself.
Um… I think I did Google a few of my classmates, but the most I found out about them were some marks, as some of the universities pages came up within the search results.
Vera on March 4, 2008 #
I once googled a guy to find they had on online alias as a woman O_O
And I’ve used my primary school class list to find out what they were all up to now, that was nice and very interesting.
Alexandra on March 4, 2008 #
I always google people I know out of curiosity and find out some boring stuff but theres always something interesting. The other day at work, this girl and guy were googling each others names and calling out random results (similar to the “name is..” googleisms) and then they started googling everyone else’s names and I was sitting there going shit shit shit don’t google mine haha, but they did my full name which only brings up my portfolio. If they do only my first name it shows my blog.
Bobbi-lee on March 4, 2008 #
Most people tend to Facebook each other after a date to find out more which is a nice safety net even if it is slightly unsettling. I’ve had a peek at mostly everyone I’ve met on Facebook, but never on Google. The only time I did that was to look up a lecturer because I wanted her e-mail address (she was lovely and brought us camcorders to play with once) :D
Lil on March 4, 2008 #
Haha, yeah I’ve done it. I found out one of my ex-boyfriends was cheating on me that way when I stumbled across his other girlfriend’s blog. But he was on his way out the door anyway, so it wasn’t much of a surprise.
Kiera on March 4, 2008 #
im guilty of facebooking and myspacing cute guys that I’ve met. :\
ian on March 5, 2008 #
Hell yeah I have! Especially if it’s a boy I’m interested in… or someone from work. Sometimes I even look to see if said boy and I have similar interests, stuff like that. I’ve also looked up really old friends of mine from school on Myspace, see if they’re changed any.
Sarai on March 5, 2008 #
I once google images’d one of my friends, and found a few cute pictures of here :P (She’s a checkers player, and quite good, so there were pictures of tournaments)
I hardly ever google people these days, although I do google myself sometimes XD
Emsz on March 5, 2008 #
Haha, I facebook’d my hot lecturer too but he wasn’t on there. :(
Maren on March 5, 2008 #
I love Star Wars geeks. :P
I have googled people I know several times, but I’ve never found anything interesting.
Julie on March 5, 2008 #
All of your links are broken on lj. Sadface.
Mike Haddad on March 5, 2008 #
I date smart guys who know not to use their real name on the internetz.
And even when I search their aliases, I get very little. Men. *rolls eyes*
Nellie on March 5, 2008 #
I googled our HOT HOT HOT P.E. teacher back in grade 11 and I found his personal website with pics of him and his GF! Lol. I told everyone and soon everyone in HS knew about it. =P
Katy on March 5, 2008 #
We used to Facebook our teachers to laugh at the stupid photos, read their walls and marvel that some (I repeat, some) have social lives. However, then they realised what we were doing so all teachers have to do something to their profiles so we can’t read them any more. Shame.
We still do it to old teachers though – sometimes with present teachers. There is actually a facebook argument between a present teacher and her old best friend who gave up teaching and moved away, which we enjoy. Lol.
Ann on March 5, 2008 #
You’ve inspired me to search my hot English teacher on Facebook. He’s 12 years older than me, but so hot and so single. YEAH!!!!
Aravis on March 5, 2008 #
Yes… yes, I have. *shame* But don’t feel bad — I think I’m slightly more off-balance, heh. Sure, I’ve Facebooked, Googled, and MySpaced the shit out of (some) people. However — and this is where the psychotic bitch in me steps in — I’m more likely to MySpace /Facebook a boyfriend’s ex than I am to MySpace/Facebook him! It really sucks when she has a private profile, though… because I sure as hell ain’t gonna add exes and have any potential boyfriends see my crazy ass grinning at them from her Top Friends! =P
P.S. I’ve Googled myself, and the top search always ends up being my website. Boy, it would really suck if my ex-boyfriend has already stumbled upon my site…
Robmarie on March 5, 2008 #
The better question is, who have I not googled?
Rafia on March 5, 2008 #
I have googled and looked up people on facebook before, but unfortunately, I’ve never found anything interesting or unexpected. :(
Meg on March 5, 2008 #
I don’t necessarily google people.
However, when I meander by the myspace of a guy I… well, like a hell of a lot, and I see girls flirting with him in his comments, I stalk them for a little bit to make sure he isn’t flirting back.
As for facebook, I’m really bad about facebooking people I used to know way back when but haven’t seen in a while.
Meli on March 5, 2008 #
hahaha, yes, I do it to, though I feel terribly stalker-ish when I do. But then I have a friend who openly Facebook-stalks…so it seems like everyone does it.
I’ve actually Goggled someone too *ahh feel so much like a stalker!* Found some interesting stuff, lol.
marilyn on March 5, 2008 #
I’ve never actually Googled anyone with stalker intentions. Two of my friends and I Googled each other once last year just for fun, though, when we are at school. One of my friends shares a name with some porn star, apparently. :P We backed out of that site quick.
That far-fetched situation sounds perfect in my opinion. I’d probably apply for vice president or something. :D And steal his Boba Fett figurine.
Kycoo on March 5, 2008 #
I have googled a lot of people I know – generally just out of curiousity as there are some things that never come up in coversation and are just interesting to know. I am (a touch ashamed to admit!) a big facebook stalker, but this is generally just as it is a good form of procrastination.
I have only really found out good things about people, programs that they have taken part of, for example, or sports reports from matches they have played in…
Sam on March 5, 2008 #
Are you kidding me? I spend 80% of my time stalking…
There was this hot guy in my psychology class. When my teacher took the register, I found out his name was Karl. What did I do? I logged on to blackboard (this virtual learning program…. thing) and located the class list for my psychology class. I found out his full name through there and found him on MySpace. I then changed my name on MySpace and my default picture so he didn’t know it was me and then started sending him messages saying that I wanted to rape him. Sad thing is, I’m not kidding XD
Worst bit is? He found out it was me, somehow :P Psychology has been uncomfortable ever since.
So yes, I do it a lot. In fact, I have all my crushes MSNs/MySpace’s etc. and NONE of them have given me them, I’ve found them all through stalking muahahaha.
Matt on March 5, 2008 #
I especially like Facebookig people I went to school with :P But I never find anything interesting, which is quite sucky, actually :(
Kaisa on March 5, 2008 #
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I Googled my colleagues while they were sitting right next to me, although I didn’t find anything interesting about them. I looked over their shoulder as they Googled me and they found my photography site, and even though I didn’t have to, I felt embarrassed while they looked at my photographs, I was just really relieved that I hadn’t gotten around to putting my personal info up on that site yet
Chans on March 9, 2008 #
I Googled my current boyfriend before we started dating. I told him about it later and he thought it was “cute,” but I felt like a total creep at the time. I found some really embarassing things though, like his website from a few years ago…
Michelle on March 12, 2008 #
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