The Searchers

All of us trawl the web. Soon, maybe, how you search may become an essential skill.

Very many great thinkers will tell you in not so few words that we are what we look for. Some of us might even think about it and arrive at the conclusion that, indeed, life is all about pursuit. So is the internet.

Speaking of which, what did we go looking for on the web in 2009? In no particular order, let’s see (based on Google’s Zeitgeist, newspaper reports and top-of-mind recall): Michael Jackson, Facebook, Twitter, swine flu/H1N1 (remember, it gets really active in winters?), President Obama (Healthcare Bill, Nobel Peace Prize, Copenhagen agreement… the man did have an eventful first year in office), the Large Hadron Collider, Budget 2009, Satyam, Kambakth Ishq (don’t ask), IRCTC (a personal favourite), Bhuvan, Katrina Kaif (another personal favourite), Rahul Gandhi (he’s going to be even bigger next year), Shahid Kapoor (it’s been a good comeback year for the man who lost his girl to Saif in 2008), Slumdog Millionaire (pah!), Sarah Palin (double pah!), IPL (will it be as big next year?)

Seeing that we are in agreement on one’s reason for being—for all practical purposes, at least about seeking—perhaps some of you might like a few tips on getting the best of whatever it is you’ll go looking for in 2010 from the internet. It’s not a bad idea. I predict that one day in the not-so-distant future, the ability to ‘search efficiently’ will count as an essential skill. What’s more, it may even be tested by many a prospective employer. The internet is, after all, a bottomless repository of all things important and unimportant. The sooner you can unearth what you need, the more efficient you are bound to be.

Since space constraints make it impossible for me to parade in full the wondrous gifts I come bearing from the internet at once, I’m going to turn this into a two-piece. Please come back next week for your quick-step guide on how to trawl the web better and improve the quality of your results. Until then, here’s to a happy search year 2010.

Avinash Subramaniam is a writer and media consultant who lives online.

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