Who Runs the World? Google

Let me just start off by admitting that I am an avid "Googler". I use Google everyday, all the time, probably partially because I am too lazy to do otherwise. I use Google for questions I have on my homework, online shopping, and I also use Google's handy assets like Google Docs and Google Maps. To be honest I'm even young enough I don't really remember a time before Google and just thinking about a time before Google makes me really sad and feel anxiety about how people lived! The fact of the matter is Google is just another part of my body at this point, so the question is, Does Google have too much power over our lives? In short my response to that would be yes they do. However let me be clear that I am for the most part at ease with that fact. I'll speak on behalf of society and go ahead and say that we are in fact addicted to Google. Could you imagine what your day would be like if Google just stopped working for an entire day? People would be going insane! When something as global and consistently used as Google, it is natural that we would all become addicted so don't feel too bad about your current addiction. In 2016 and specifically the United States we are so fast paced and want everything right now, we don't wanna wait, we have other things to do. We want a search engine that will read our mind and tell us what we wanna know with 3 million hits in 32 seconds. Google gives us what we want in an extremely fast manner and that is why we like it so much.

Recently there have been many talks about whether Google is respecting our privacy rights or not. If you have any type of Google account, Google plus, Gmail, etc. you would know that Google syncs with everything and very quickly obtains as much information about you as your neighbor knows. Some are at ease with that and some are extremely concerned with the type and amount of information Google is learning about us. For example a couple months ago I bought some clothes from a website online, while I was doing my homework and a couple days later I noticed that on the right side bar of the article I was reading was one of the shirts that I had bought a couple days earlier. I just started noticing that type of activity recently. I assume that it should freak me out and while it doesn't exactly please me, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't really bother me. Now I do see where some would say that this is only the beginning of the access Google has in our lives. I would probably predict that Google will only start getting more and more personal. That is the number one aspect that people love about the Internet, is that it is customizable. Google has capitalized on customization and made it its number one priority.

The only thing I can say about the threat of Google is that our dependence is already on it. Like I said early could you imagine a day without Google? It is a scary thought! It will be interesting to see what will happen in the future. We may be losing some of our own independence to a search engine.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think! Will Google run our minds one day? What would life be like without Google? Do you remember a time before Google? Let me know in the comments below! :)