23d • Announcements
Internet 101
Today we’re going to learn how the internet works.
Apparently.
A member of this group messaged me this morning asking me to remove his welcome post because when he Googled his own name, Google showed the welcome post in the search results.
I removed his tag.
He then explained to me that I was missing the point because the Google result meant that people could see that he was online.
No, Bruce.
That is not what that means.
So, since we’ve apparently reached the portion of our programming where I teach Internet 101, here we go.
Google is a search engine.
Google crawls publicly accessible pages on the internet and indexes the information it finds. If your name appears on a page Google can access, that page may appear when someone searches your name.
It does not mean people can see that you’re currently online.
It does not mean the website told Google you’re online.
It does not mean I sent your information to Google.
It means Google found your name on the internet because you put your name on the internet.
Bruce voluntarily joined an online community.
The online community welcomed Bruce.
Google found the welcome page.
Bruce Googled Bruce.
Google showed Bruce a page containing Bruce.
Bruce was alarmed to discover Bruce on the internet.
I genuinely don’t know what else to do with that. 😂
For the record, if you participate in public spaces online, your activity may be publicly visible and search engines may index it. I don’t control Google, its search results, or how quickly those results update.
And if the possibility of someone discovering that you participate in an online community is unacceptable to you, a public online community is probably not where you should be participating.
Bruce has therefore been removed from the group so he no longer has to endure the horrifying possibility that the internet might discover he uses the internet.
Thank you for attending today’s technology seminar.
Next week: If you comment on a public social media post, other people can read it. 💀
1
2 comments
Internet 101
powered by
skool.com/deduct-this-life-4610
Life, travel, business, dogs, and local finds — Leading a Tax Deductible Life by example. Come build yours with me.
Suggested communities
Powered by