"I Google myself"

This provoked mixed emotions: it made me laugh because it is so very true. But it also made me think that we are all slightly crazy, we have even developed techniques to improve the quality of the search results when googling ourselves: quotation marks. This video encompasses the You Tube's generation self obsession.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFPNL8yoqUM]

via Valleywag

We have all done it :) But  where is the element of surprise in meeting someone for the first time, when you have already googled them and know the name of their dog, and why they got fired from their last job?  How can we make an excellent first impression at a job interview, if the employer has googled us and saw pics of us a little worse for wear last weekend?

This video doesn't touch on the equally disturbing obsession we have with social networking sites.

This article from the Guardian discusses University students using Facebook to make friends before term starts. It states "Facebook is the ultimate tool for procrastination...people can be very judgmental and form false impressions."

What is going to happen to romance, mystery and surprise? Not to mention self-respect? It worries me, yet all my friends claim it is great for keeping in touch. Maybe. But where is the balance?