How to microblog in high heels

In George Orwell’s 1984, the inhabitants of Oceania have grown increasingly accustomed to ‘Newspeak’. This shortening of words and grammar is encouraged by the Ministry of Truth to eliminate any words which commit a ‘thoughtcrime.’ Orwell’s invention of newspeak was his outcry at the inclusion of  ’meaningless and illogical’ to the English vocabulary which he was witnessing at the time. 

In July 2006 “google” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary:

google/’gu:gl/ verb to type words into a SEARCH ENGINE on the Internet, especially the Google search engine, in order to find information about sb/sth: [VN] You can google someone you’ve recently met to see what information is available  about them on the Internet. [V] I tried googling but I couldn’t find anything relevant. 

Interesting that the person who wrote the dictionary entry (arguably one of the best jobs int he world), chose one of the more psychopathic ways of using google as their example. Googling someone you need to know things about is acceptable, googling someone you’ve just met is just plain creepy. 

I’m not insinuating that we are degenerating into a totalitarian regime where plain English is being omitted in replacement of some kind of ‘netspeak’ (when ‘to twitter’ arrives as an registered verb, I may change my mind). But the addition of ‘google’ to the dictionary just shows how huge the Internet giant has become, and proves Orwell’s point that language mirrors the society we live in.

Here’s just one stat to show how Google dominates the search engine market:

Someone going by the name of Urgo has created a web countdown for when Google will take over the world – we currently have left 6 years, 35 days, 8 hours and 17 minutes left before Google replaces all. The site links to a video Urgo has made about Google’s world domination. I’m not sure about the apocalyptic tones of the voiceover but it tracks the development of the web since the birth of the internet, and how Google has grown. Urgo predicts the merging of Google and Amazon to form ‘Googlezon’ – watch out for the ID card with Orwell’s protagonist on the front – Winston Smith. It is also rather scary when the death of newspapers is predicted, and The New York Times goes offline in protest, becoming a print leaflet for the elite and the elderly. 

It’s hard to find people outside of Google’s own staff who are supportive of their increasing growth. Many are scathingly pessimistic of Google’s domination of the web (see distasteful use of Hitler clips on YouTube), and news companies fear the search engine will put them out of business. But, Alun Rusbridger, editor of the Guardian, said at the Society of Editors Conference 2008:

Some people think they have got where they are without Google. Google aree getting the lion’s share of the advertising, but, I think at the moment Google, by and large, are helping us all.

Rusbridger may be saying this because, as his colleague Carolyn McCall conceeded, the Guardian Media Group do make money from Google, but I think his feelings gratitude towards Google runs deeper. 

Google Maps, Google Earth (which I originally thought let you actually spy on people – see news on virtual Rome), Google Analytics, Google Mail, Google Groups, Google Images, Google Shopping, Google Books, Google Finance, Google Blogs, and now, Google Trends – including the gradual merge between the real world and the web with the ability of Google flu trends to predict where the next flu epidemic is about to hit – are all new innovative programs which have shaped and will continue to change how we are using the web, and the tools available. Jeff Jarvis has recently blogged his speech in defense of Google, and has a great list of ways Google is not evil and should be appreciated in his argument. 

Anthony Mayfield, from icrossing, said:

Search is the front page of a website. 

Google will always be at the front as long as it remains on top, continues to put the user first and increasingly becomes a reliable international brand. But who knows whether it will continue to monopolise the internet. As Mayfield pointed out, we are still in the early learning stages, and it could all change in a nano-second. Or perhaps we will end up like Winston in 1984 (for those who haven’t read it avert eyes now), brainwashed to forget how the world was before we were googled.