57pc Americans google themselves regularly
May 30th, 2010 - 11:55 am ICT by ANIWashington, May 30 (ANI): As Internet users grow by millions everyday, so does the importance of one’s online identity - a fact proven by numbers - 57 percent American adults google themselves frequently to keep tabs on their reputations online.
According to a report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project released today, that’s the number of people who track information about their Internet identities - up from 47 percent in 2006.
The survey is based on results from telephone interviews of 2,253 individuals in 2009. More and more Americans are signing up for social networking sites, and an increasing number say their work information, photos and birth dates can be found online.
46 percent of adults use online search engines to dig information on people from their past, and while 38 percent have searched for friends, 16 percent have searched for information about an ex-flame.
This new trend of social networking has definitely quieted peoples’ fears about privacy invasion, with more and more people parting with personal info like phone numbers.
“Contrary to the popular perception that younger users embrace a laissez-faire attitude about their online reputations, young adults are often more vigilant than older adults when it comes to managing their online identities,” Live Science quoted Mary Madden, a researcher at the Internet & American Life Project and an author of the report.
More and more adults are logging on to social networking sites, and even employers are keeping tabs on employees through the Web.
While not common, online misfortunes do happen: 4 percent say they have had personally bad experiences as a result of inaccurate or embarrassing information posted about them online, the report reveals. And 8 percent say they have tried to remove personal information, such as photos or videos, with 82 percent being successful.
However, people are happy that they have been able to get back in touch with old friends as well as get to know people before they meet them. (ANI)
- Over three mn Mexican teens have posted racy photos on Web - Mar 06, 2012
- Fearing online reputation, Britons delete personal details - Apr 19, 2011
- Info that kids share on Facebook a matter of concern: Kiwi watchdog - May 03, 2010
- Software combo that turns computers impregnable - Mar 22, 2012
- Half of Brits 'would erase all personal data online over reputation fear' - Apr 19, 2011
- Your Facebook pics could be keeping nice friends away - Nov 07, 2011
- More than 40pc of Aussies spend 41.5mn hrs surfing the web - Nov 12, 2010
- Internet users wary of backdoor snooping - Mar 19, 2012
- Digital photos could put your kids at risk - Feb 10, 2012
- More friends online than in real life! - May 10, 2011
- Less than one-third of Mexicans have internet access - May 19, 2011
- Updates on social networking sites worth more than $30m a day - Apr 13, 2011
- A third of Indians surf the net for health info: Survey - Jan 17, 2011
- Mobile phones hackers' main target - Apr 06, 2012
- Online surfing promotes reading habit - Dec 02, 2011
Tags: american adults, birth dates, flame, google, information photos, internet identities, internet users, mary madden, misfortunes, new trend, older adults, perception, personal info, pew research center, privacy invasion, reputations, researcher, search engines, social networking sites, young adults