Monday, September 26, 2011

The Search for Answers

Hey, guys! How was your weekend? Are you having fun with the second Campaign Challenge? Don't forget you still have until October 3rd to enter and October 14th to vote!

I figured since it's Monday and most of us are still trying to get around to all of the entries, I'd post something light today. You know how Google tries to guess what you're searching for, based on other people's searches? Well, I thought it would be fun to see the world's view on a few things this morning...

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There you have it, crazy weirdos! ;) What do Google searches have to do with the writing industry? Very little. This is only a small part of public perception, so don't worry. I still ♥ you.

So, what are some of your industry searches/results?

P.S. I don't have Web History enabled, so none of these searches are based on mine--just in case you're wondering. :)

P.P.S. The Blog Button/Sticker Giveaway ends September 30th, so the last day to enter is Friday. :) 

P.P.P.S. (Yeah, I can do that.) Thanks to Joylene, Peggy, and Tina for the awards! I really appreciate it. :)

[ If you're following me, and I'm not following you, please send me a link to your blog. Blogger seems to be acting up again. Thanks! ]

47 comments:

Nancy Thompson said...

Those are all too funny! Do people really type in that stuff? I don't even pay attention when I'm typing into Google until I've finished. I can only imagine what they say about designers and architects.

Carrie Butler said...

@Nancy - They must! *grins* Oh goodness. You should try it sometime. If nothing else, it's usually worth a laugh. :D

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

lol, they are funny. I got 'writers are engineers of the soul'.

Lydia Kang said...

OMG, these are too funny. Are they real? Seriously?

Carrie Butler said...

@Lynda - Hah! That sounds so fancy. I want that on a business card. *grins*

@Lydia - Absolutely! Crazy, isn't it? Let's just hope those searches never represent the pulse of our industry. ;)

Melodie said...

ha! These are great - you are a genius!
#4 could've been me, I admit...but I didn't google to come up with my list. I'm just smart that way. ;) kidding.

Donna K. Weaver said...

Funny. I think some of the Google searches are hilarious. So bloggers are narcissists. Humph.

Jennifer Hillier said...

These Google searches are eerily telling!

And writers are crazy and weird? I am so not crazy and weird. The voices in my head assure me I am 100% normal.

JeffO said...

"Writers are born not made"
"Writers aren't exactly people" What?
"Writers are alcoholics"
That last one is close to the sort of searches I did when I did my blog post on the subject.
"The new black"--didn't that phrase go out in the 90's? Funny stuff, thanks for the laugh, Carrie.

Unknown said...

That's so funny! I did the same thing as you and got the same results so it's obviously what people think of those things. Or at least what google bots think of those things.

Lisa Regan said...

That's hilarious.

Tina Moss said...

Awesome! So funny what the google bot comes up with. And you're welcome. Well deserved. :D

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Writers are ring leaders. Hahaha.
Writers are alcoholics. (shish, I better start drinking)

You're welcome, Carrie *Butler*

Angela Brown said...

It's interesting what others are searching for. I'm still trying to understand "publishing is the new literacy".

Carrie Butler said...

@Melodie - Haha! You are smart that way! :)

@Donna - Us? Narcissists? Never!

@Jennifer - Hah! Oh, I know. The voices in my head agree. ;)

@JeffO - People always assume that, don't they? Hmm...
Yeah, I thought that phrase was a little dated! What era are they getting these popular search results from? *grins* I'm glad you guys enjoyed it!

@Clarissa - Silly people! Maybe we--as a writing/blogging community--need to start correcting these perceptions. Sometime. Eventually. ;)

@Lisa - Thanks! I was hoping you guys would get a kick out of it! :)

@Tina - Aww, thank you! :)

@Joylene - Geez! You're behind, fellow Butler. You better hit the bottle right after this. :P

@Angela - I'm not quite sure what "publishing is the new literacy" is supposed to mean, either--but it is interesting! :)

Golden Eagle said...

LOL. I've done that with Google a few times--it's fun, though some of the results are a bit weird!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea for a post! You are so creative. And I haven't managed to get to a single challenge, I am so glad I have another two weeks!

Carrie Butler said...

@Eagle - It is fun, isn't it? *grins*

@Jessica - Why thank you! Oh, that's understandable. It's a busy time of year, and the entry list keeps growing. It's almost overwhelming at this point. That's why I try to read, like, 5-10 every evening. Any more than that, and I'll explode in a burst of colorful confetti. ;)

Jeff King said...

I love the post... I am afraid I'm out of the campaign loop, but I’ll try to remedy that.

Angela Ackerman said...

Ugh, what I hate about google is sometimes you have to look up something embarrassing...and then google stores it and you hit that first letter...and there it is. >< I guess I should clear the cashe...

Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

Carrie Butler said...

@Jeff - Thank you! :D

@Angela - You mean when you google things like, "shirtless men I would DO"? *grins* Kidding, kidding! I won't bring it up again--I promise! ;)

Peggy Eddleman said...

That was AWESOME. What a great idea!

Botanist said...

Oh! What a fun game!

Nothing to do with my industry but I got:

Politicians are...like diapers/scum/liars
Lawyers are...rats/scum/liars
Telemarketers are...people too/annoying/scum

Carrie Butler said...

@Pegasus - Thank you! :)

@Botanist - Hah! I love the bit about diapers. That made my day! *grins*

Sally said...

I must confess I was a skeptic...I had to go in Google myself and see what popped up with 'writers are..." HA! It's true! I'm surprised that I'm surprised actually XD I'm the first person who should know, writers ARE crazy :D (The world needs crazy people, otherwise we'd all be doctors xD

Fun post was fun!^^

Carrie Butler said...

@Sally - Geez! That's why I took screenshots. I'm hurt, really. You're lucky we go way back. :P Hey, you know, I have a blogging friend (Lydia) who's a writer and a doctor! True story.

Anyway, thanks for commenting! I'm glad you had fun with it. :D

Leah said...

Had me practically on the floor with a few of those.

But seriously guys, bloggers are stupid, narcissistic, and annoying?

Think before you google, someone could get hurt!

;p

Carrie Butler said...

@Leah - We should start googling things a couple thousand times a day. You know, like:

"Writers are incredibly attractive!"

"Bloggers are the epitome of awesome!"

"Readers are waiting for Carrie to finish her book!"

...No? Okay, maybe not that last one. *Grins*

Joanne said...

lol, these are cute. They definitely give us a glimpse at publishing's image! I clicked over from Peggy's, enjoyed browsing here :)

Carrie Butler said...

@Joanne - Thank you, and welcome! It's always nice to have people over from Peggy's. :D

Becky Wallace said...

Fun game. I wonder what other random things I can come up with...

Laila Knight said...

This is hilarious, okay. I've often tried Googling myself simply because of what the internet comes up with. I'm going to send you something funny soon because you seem like someone who enjoys a good laugh. :)

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I see the most interesting things when I use Google.

This was an interesting glimpse into popular posts about publishing, since Google points us to them when we're searching.

Carrie Butler said...

@Becky - Oh, there are plenty. I'm sure you could kill a whole lunch hour doing it! Not that I've tried... *grins*

@Laila - That was hilarious! Loved it!

@Medeia - Absolutely! (Though, of course, sometimes we see things we'd rather not see.) Thank you for commenting! :)

Anonymous said...

hehe, writers are crazy. But also amazing! Here's to the awesome, crazy writers like us *cheers*

Tiburon said...

Seriously... I don't think the "public" thinks highly of anyone. I just went to google and put in "Patrick is" my four results (I am not kidding):
1) "Patrick is mayonnaise an instrument" (I have no clue what this means, but I know what an instruments is... I think...)
2) "Patrick is to the left of you" common error, I am actually to your right, also known as your other left.
3) "Patrick is stupid" The net is full of haters.
4) "Patrick is a jerk" I guess I did deserve that from my last statement...

Carrie Butler said...

@Rebecca - Heck yeah! :D

@Tiburon - Two of those searches are mine. Guess which ones they are.

...Kidding. :)

cleemckenzie said...

These are great and I agree with all of them. Hmmm. Wonder if I wrote any of them?

Lindsay N. Currie said...

HA! I can't lie, the"writers are crazy" one should be a t-shirt or a bumper sticker or something...LOL I would buy it! Hope you're good!!!

Anonymous said...

Amusingly excellent post!

(I have a blog award for you if you'd like to drop by my blog and check it out.)

Carrie Butler said...

@cleemckenzie - Hah! Let's hope not. *grins*

@Lindsay - Oh man! I would wear that thing with pride. :D You too! Did you get my e-mail?

@The Capillary - Thank you, and welcome! I'll be right over! :)

Iain said...

Thank you for making me smile. I think I'm going to have to do this next time I need something to lighten the mood :o)

Carrie Butler said...

@Iain - Glad you enjoyed it! Oh, you should. It's pretty fun. :)

Sally said...

I'm sorry, I will not doubt you again Carrie!!T^T xD
A writer AND a doctor? Where does she find the time?!:O But that's awesome anyway!

Carrie Butler said...

@Sally - Hah! Glad to hear it. ;) Oh, oh, I know. It is, isn't it? :)

Jessica Therrien said...

Oh man Carrie...your comment on my wedding post made me laugh out loud...then I saw this post and laughed again. You're good...

Carrie Butler said...

@Jessica - I'm glad! :D