From CNN:

About 57 percent of adult internet users in the United States said they have entered their name into a search engine to assess their digital reputation, according to a new Pew Research Center study“Reputation Management and Social Media.”

That’s a significant increase since 2006, when only 47 percent of adult internet users said they had looked their name up on a search engine. The findings show “reputation management has now become a defining feature of online life,” the study says.

I don’t google myself–anymore. A google alert that sends me an e-mail instantly whenever my name is mentioned on the web does the trick much better.

Update: Apparently Ann Althouse also has a google alert on her name. Guess I’m in good company.

Update 2: How did I find that obscure comment from Althouse’s blog? I googled “google alert” and Google showed results from my “social circle.” Althouse is in my social circle, and google linked to that comment she wrote . Oh google. You know what I want to find before even I know what I want to find.