Searching your name on Google can lead to discovering your Googleganger, someone with the same name who appears in search results. It can be interesting to learn about their different lifestyles, but there may be negative associations or identity issues. Some people enjoy contacting their Googleganger, but others may not feel comfortable.
The author of this wiseGEEK article could be an Alabama writer/musician, the business writer for a Florida newspaper, or the resident pro at a Pennsylvania golf course. According to the search engine Google, the writer, journalist and golf pro all have one thing in common, our names.
Searching your name on Google or other search engines has created a new phenomenon known as Googleganger. A Googleganger is one or more people who have identical names and who all appear in a list of GOOGLE search results.
The term Googleganger is a pun on the German word doppelganger, literally “doppelganger,” suggesting a physical twin or an uncanny resemblance in appearance or identity. A Googleganger may share the same name as the researcher, but thankfully not the same lifestyle. Part of the fun of searching Googleganger is discovering how different two or more people with identical names can be. For example, a Google ganger might be significantly older or younger than the searcher.
There’s always the temptation to contact a Googleganger whenever possible, and a number of users routinely succumb to this temptation. Sometimes it can be very enlightening to learn about the experiences of other people who have lived with an obscure last name or unusual first or middle name. Not all Googlegangers may feel comfortable communicating this way with strangers who share their names, but a number of people answer polite questions about themselves.
However, not everything about a Googleganger search is positive. Some internet twins may have their names linked to criminal behavior or other negative acts. There could also be some identity issues with a Googleganger’s name being confused with the searcher’s identification. If a person is on a no fly list or receives an unsolicited call from creditors or law enforcement officers, it could be the result of illegal acts by Googleganger.
Finding an online Googleganger can be an interesting experience, especially if the internet twin has an unusual career or lifestyle. Friends and family may not even realize that Googleganger exists, which could lead to some interesting questions if the internet twin happens to be an exotic dancer or a notorious celebrity. A college student was surprised when her mother told her that she knew about her participation in adult films. The student discovered that one of her Google gangsters was indeed an adult film actress who had used an identical stage name. Thankfully, that confusion was cleared up quickly, but others may spend a lot of time wondering why their friends are looking at them so weird after a regular internet search.
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