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Every once in a while I'll head to the
Internet search engines and start typing in the names of people I
used to know -- okay, there is an emphasis on women I've
formerly been involved with and lost touch with, but my searches
are not limited to that category! I always come up
empty.
(Not quite "always." I did find an
inadvertent mention of some people I used to know. The difference
is, I wasn't looking directly for them. It was a side
effect of a different search. When it comes to finding people I am
specifically looking for I'm still batting zero.)
I wonder "Where are these
people?!" We hear so much about "everyone having a web page" and
"everyone is getting on the Internet," yet they seem nowhere to be
found. There's also that old psychological bug-a-boo "Well,
I am, so everyone must be." Uh-uh.
That last one does lead me to a related
bit of wondering, "Do any of them ever look for me?" I'm fairly
easy to find for anyone doing a search on "Gene Nash." The
statistics for the web page would indicate however that no one
seems to be. Also, if anyone has looked me up they either haven't
found me or decided not to contact me. (I would bet on the
former.)
(There's a good reason a lot of the people
I used to know wouldn't even think to look me up, though. A few
years ago a persistent rumor circulated widely that I was dead.
That's what I'm talking about in my song "Look At Me Now"
when I sing about being left for dead. Would you
search new technology for someone you think has been dead for 10
years? Oh, well.)
While people might not be looking
specifically for me, there are sought after Gene
Nashes. In the past week I've received two separate e-mails asking
me if I'm the "Gene Nash from X" -- one wondering if I was a
welder from Texas, another inquiring if I lived in Colorado in the
early 80's. Who knows, maybe my number is just waiting to be
drawn! :-)
It's not just that these people I'm
seeking don't have personal home pages, they aren't even mentioned
on other people's sites! Surely someone they know must have
mentioned them somewhere. Some employer must list them.
Some committee they sit on must have a page. Then again,
you don't exactly find their names listed here, do you? ;-) I
have found a couple names, but there is nothing to indicate
that these are actually the people I seek. They are as likely not
who I am seeking as I am not a welder from Texas or a Colorado
expatriate! At least if you come here there is no doubt
which Gene Nash I am, what with my biography section and my
picture plastered everywhere.
Perhaps the propaganda for personal
Internet presence is more than a little hyperbolic. Certainly
potential doesn't equal actual. I know plenty of people who
have web space (say through AOL or their personal ISP), but
don't have a web page -- they don't use it. To imagine that
everyone will have Internet access, or everyone will have their
own domain name (!!!), or everyone will have their own web site
(all predictions I have heard, some even with dates attached!) is
delusional. Not everyone will care.
Not everyone cares.
Los Angeles, CA
March 21st, 1999
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