NEW YORK (AP) — In a report, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine.
That is more than twice the 22 percent of users who did in 2002, but Pew senior research specialist Mary Madden was surprised that the growth wasn’t higher than it had been expected.
“Yes it’s doubled, but it’s still the case that there’s a big chunk of Internet users who have never done this simple act of connecting their names with search engines,” she said. “Certainly more and more people have become aware of this, but I don’t know it’s necessarily kept pace with the amount of content we post about ourselves or what others post about us.”
About 60 percent of Internet users said they aren’t worried about the extent of information about themselves online, although they are increasingly concerned over how that data can be used.
Americans under 50 and those with more education and income were more likely to self-Google---in some cases because their jobs demand a certain online persona(形象).
Meanwhile, Pew found that 53 percent of adult Internet users admit to looking up information about someone else, famous people not included.
Often, it’s to find someone they’ve lost touch with. But looking up information about friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbors also was common.
Although men and women equally searched for online information about themselves, women were slightly more likely to look up information about someone they are dating.
In many cases, the search is not harmful, done to find someone’s contact information. But a third of those who have conducted searches on others have looked for public records, such as bankruptcies(破产) and divorce proceedings. A similar number have searched for someone else’s photo.
Pew also found that teens were more likely than adults to limit the range of people who can see their information at an online hangout like Facebook or News Corp.’s MySpace, contrary to conventional wisdom.
“Teens are more comfortable with the applications in some ways, (but) I also think they have their parents and teachers telling them to be very careful about what they post and who they share it with,” Madden said.
小题1: Mary Madden was surprised at the result that ______.
A．fewer and fewer adult Internet users are looking for information about themselves
B．the number of adult Internet users looking for information about themselves has doubled
C．more adult Internet users should have looked for information about themselves
D．so many people don’t know how to connect their names with search engines小题2:According to the report some people haven’t looked for information about themselves because ______.
A．they are not rich enough to get a computer
B．they are not well educated
C．they don’t know they can look for their own information on the Internet
D．they think it unnecessary to look for their own information on the Internet小题3: Which group of people are more likely to look for their own information on the Internet?
A．Teens.
B．Women.
C．The old.
D．The educated.小题4:People look for others’ information on the Internet mainly to ______.
A．see what they are doing
B．find someone they have lost touch with
C．have a look at their photos
D．know their perso
nal affairs
