Other Yous

I’m going to try to start a meme. It’s called Other Yous, and it works like this: You ego-surf on Google to find other people with your full name. Then, based on the results, you compose profiles of the other people on the planet who share your name.

For example, my wife is:

• The “Pets” columnist for the Sunday New York Post
• The third girl in Haverhill High history to score 1,000 points. She went on to play college ball, becoming an all-conference guard at the University of South Carolina. She’s apparently got a heck of a three-point shot.
• An office assistant at the Chamber of Commerce in Elk Grove, California (also, coincidentally, the home of the Apple head office).
• The owner of the Lake Shelbyville Sports and Fitness Center and has a son named Kyle (oddly, my middle name) in Shelbyville, Illinois.

Why haven’t I done this for me? Well, Other Yous only works for names that are somewhat common. If you’re John Smith or Darren Barefoot, you’re kind of out of luck. The former offers too much to choose from, and the latter too little. It’s also more difficult if you’d had a lengthy or popular online life. For example, I bet Tim Bray or Robert Scoble have a hard time sifting through their results for the other Tim Brays and Robert Scobles of the world. My friend Hugh Grant would have a related problem.

Go forth and collect meaningful data about the other yous on the planet. Tell your friends.