I was doing a Google search on a Nigerian I intend to feature in the "Our Heroes in Their 20s" segment of this blog, but as is characteristic of Google, I was attracted to something else. I noticed a trend in Google's suggestions for my search and I thought to share with you. Read the comments underneath the pictures and tell me if you see what I see or if I'm being slightly paranoid!
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| Any suggestion relating to petroleum or OPEC? |
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| Any suggestion related to being the Chief Justice of Nigeria? |
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| Oh yes! Finally, a suggestion related to the World Bank |
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| A suggestion on net-worth at least, though none on Ebony Live TV. |
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| Hmm... all professional but no net-worth oh! |
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| This seems all so professional too... interesting |
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| He should have a wife...I think |
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| Well, no suggestion related to him being president so... |
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| Well... |
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| I see things like net-worth, foundation... |
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| We can at least tell that he is a politician from the suggestions |
Considering the trend above, is "married" a usual suggestion for a search like Dangote? I would have expected more things like "Forbes" or "cement". I think the suggestion "married" crops up due to the number of people concerned about where all his wealth will go... a valid concern if you ask me, but that is beside the point.
If I have not already made what I see very clear, the point is to engage you on what these screenshots mean to you. Please let me know what the screenshots suggest to you, and if they suggest nothing and you think I am completely paranoid, please let me know as well!
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lol. Maybe you are a bit paranoid or not.
ReplyDeleteI think the google drop-down results are based on what majority of people look for.
Most of us honestly don't know most of these people so when we search for them, it's not because we want to know who they are, it's probably because we read something about them and are interested in other things asides what they are known for. (whew that was a long sentence, hope it made sense)
Also, we can look at it another way. Some of the dropdown results are 'gbeborun' like, wanting us to know what we probably won't know/have known about these people. More like spicing up our knowledge.hehe
Ha ha @gbeborun! So many people have viewed the screenshots from various angles but what I have found is that there is a vicious cycle irrespective of how it is viewed...Is it that what we want to see is what the media projects, or is it what the media projects that dictates what we end up looking for?
DeleteArghh! Even the machines are becoming sexist! :D
ReplyDeleteSome have argued that its cookies, plus people's common searches and all, but one of the glaring points was the disparity between how the sexes are projected. This is no fool proof experiment, but I see you get the idea!lol
DeleteNow I can't unsee it! lol
ReplyDeleteMe too!!!
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