Modern Information Society: "Google"

             In today’s modern information society, the term “Google” is most known for the extremely large company that began as a popular search engine.  Knowing the Internet is a somewhat recent development, I was interested to see if and how the word Google had been used before the launch of the leading search engine.  The earliest results I could find containing the word google were written in 1854, 1859, and 1870 in each of the three Proquest newspaper databases.  The first articles I could find in The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune were both written around 1860s and used the word in a slang-like, babbling fashion (i.e. “google-te-goo”).  I also found two articles written in the very early 1900s that both used the word as a descriptor for eyes: “google-eyed goldfish” and “had the Giants google-eyed”.   Scrolling down, I found slightly more recent articles featuring a popular comic strip character of the age named Barney Google.  I then decided to try searching the word “googol” because it is the mathematical term for which the company Google was named after.  The first article I found this particular spelling of the word was in the mid-1960s probably because the mathematical term was not introduced until the 1950s.  When spelled like googol, the word was usually referred to as a term to mean an extremely large or limitless amount.  I also found an article about the man who first defined googol as the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.  Some believe it was the famous character Barney Google that inspired the mathematician to choose the expression “googol” for that enormous number.

            When I look up “google” now, the dictionary defines it as the brand name of a leading Internet search engine, founded in 1998.  It also provides its alternative definition which is the action of searching the Internet for information about a certain topic, event, or person.  Although the company is relatively new, its immense popularity has expanded the term’s uses and people’s knowledge of it everywhere.  The company is one of the leading corporations in the world and creates new technologies and ideas every day.  Since 1998, people everywhere have utilized the website as their go-to place to start researching topics, asking questions, or making connections.   The company has branched into specializing in all different types of web-based fields like online shopping, maps, eBooks, and more.  The general public tends to perceive Google as a good, innovative company that tries to create a relaxed, creativity-inducing environment for their employees.  There are also many people who dislike the company due to their reputation of invading individuals’ privacy, over-advertising, or killing smaller companies.  Whether you have positive or negative feelings toward Google or you simply don’t care, you probably have a Gmail account or have used Google maps or have watched videos on YouTube, which is now owned by Google.  It is fascinating to recognize how the word Google has taken on so many different meanings before it became the multinational company that we know so well today.  Comparing articles from different time periods shows the immense lifestyle changes that have occurred between the early 1900s and 2000s and how rapidly the modern technological society has developed in just the past twenty years.