Google

Shayla Stevens

            I believe Google is getting almost too big. Google is the biggest search engine used. Many use Google first to get to a website they were originally trying to navigate. Going to Google first I believe is a lot faster and easier. Just typing in a single keyword Google navigates you to what you were looking for in seconds. I feel our society wants everything to be done quickly and conveniently, and that is exactly what Google does. I do think Google is very helpful yet, has some downfalls.

            In chapter 8 Carr says Google is doing the work of the mind. I definitely agree with Carr on this statement. The CEO of Google headquarters states, “it is striving to “systematize everything” it does” (P. 150). The headquarters is building Google to almost be a Robot, “we try to be very data-driven, and quantify everything” (P.150) Google allows information to be given in large amounts very quickly. It can bring us to almost the exact keyword or phrases we type in. Google is very convenient when searching particular pieces of information up. The fast quantities of information being thrown at us cause us to become lazy thinkers. Instead of having to flip through books and articles to gather information it is already provided to us highlighted or bolded. I think this easy accessible information is not being retained in our minds. We are just skimming the information for a single phrase.

            I also think Google can be very distracting. Carr talks of how Google makes money off of every single click that is made. So they intentionally fill the web with Ads. “Its advertising system, moreover, is explicitly designed to figure out which messages are most likely to grab out attention and then to place those messages in our field of view” (P. 157) Each time we go to a website we are in their search history, which allows that website to see what we are most interested in, which then they display Ads that we are likely to click on.

            Google has many advantages as well as disadvantages. Being able to access information so easily allows us to get research done much faster. Yet, we are not using our brains as frequently as we should and we are constantly being distracted and not able to hold a thought for long due to all the advertisements.

-Shayla Stevens