Comments on: Stalking Or Due Diligence: Google Alerts Gone Bad?

By: john

john — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:57:06 +0000

Not creepy at all – this is the future. And it’s here now!

By: Fred, Green Experience

Fred, Green Experience — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:23:50 +0000

I’ve been using Google Alerts for a long time, and I believe it is a very helpful application. Certainly nothing “stalkyish” about it at all.

By: Bryan Eye

Bryan Eye — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:12:09 +0000

I would expect any resourceful person to use such tools. It is how they handle the intel that distinguishes them from being resourceful and being “stalkful”. Like money, there is no inherent good or “evil” in it… the user is the one that imbues those forces.

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:45:24 +0000

I don’t see anything wrong with using Google Alerts to learn about a person or company. It’s not creepy at all. As you said, it’s all publicly available information, so what does it matter?

By: Andrea Merida

Andrea Merida — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:32:30 +0000

I have been burned a couple of times with information I’ve neglected to take down from the Web, thinking that most people weren’t as diligent with information gathering as I am. It always creeps me out when someone says, “oh, I heard such-and-such clip of you…” But again, I agree with the rest who have said that if you don’t want to share it, don’t publish it on the web.

I mean, jeez!

By: shelley adelle

shelley adelle — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:54:05 +0000

If you are going to put it out there, then be ready for people to see it…

Although, I have been in the situation where people post photos of me on facebook and then tag me, and they are not flattering at all…I can remove the tag, sure, but there is this sinking feeling at the thoughts of others having already seen them. Image control has gotten so complicated.

This hasn’t happened to me in the content arena as I am still crafting that awesome message I wish to share but once that happens I will have to deal with all the feedback, lack of feedback, and potential mis quoting that can happen.

Is someone online stalking me? I set the sensitive stuff to private and I leave the intimate/personal stuff offline..what else can a girl do?

xoxox

Hara Om

By: Mark Silver

Mark Silver — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:35:26 +0000

My first hit is “Whoa! Let’s not overuse the word ‘stalking.’”

If you park outside my house and watch me with binoculars, or follow me around as I do my errands, that’s stalking.

If you hack into my machine and read my private emails, that’s stalking.

But, I don’t have any objections to the Google alert tracking method- it’s just a pro-active Google search. I’m online because I want to be found.

I don’t change clothes in the middle of the street, and I don’t put communications on the web that I want to be private- I keep them in email, behind firewalls, or in password-protected-non-Google-searched forums.

However, on the other side, there are sites that track individual browsing/movements, and that gets a little creepy. For instance, if I’m visiting a website, and I’m not contacting the owner, leaving a comment, or otherwise making my presence known, then I’m not wanting to make contact. But tracking my movements with the equivalent of a video surveillance camera, that feels non-consensual and I’m not happy about it.

Does that distinction make sense to you all?

By: Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills

Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:01:30 +0000

If you don’t want it known, don’t make it public in the first place. Putting it out there is the same as saying, “here I am, check it out.” The beauty of web 2.0 is the social aspect. You can’t have it both ways.

By: Jaklang

Jaklang — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:56:35 +0000

Personally, I go through quite a lot of sites/blogs. Some are of relevance while some are in it just for a read. If it is not for this post, I would not have stop by and the fact that this issue sort of hit me recently.

It is not really a bad idea to “gather” but how it was used that is creepy. I don’t mind people find out about me but how it was used that is not right.

By: Tina Winslow

Tina Winslow — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:41:17 +0000

I actually have this exact scenario happening right now. I did work with an agency for a client that is a Fortune 500. That Fortune 500 company just hired a community manager who is (rightly so) active on Twitter.

I’ve been sort of watching and trying to communicate with him in relevant ways and debating in my head, where that line is.

I’m interested to see what others think…