# My first "vanity" search. OMG, a couple people actually noticed me! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829 "2005-06-04T03:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![meanoldman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@meanoldman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meanoldman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/1 "2005-06-04T03:01:34Z")
I think I joined the paying ranks in February this year. I did my very first “vanity” search just now. Well, I guess that’s what I did. A search on my own name, right? A couple of people actually noticed me. Ya-hoo! One post [_blush_] even said something quite flattering. Wish I had noticed -that- before. I thought that thread was done. Also, found a reference to **meanoldlady** that is no known relation to me. Rather poll like… do the regulars do vanity searches often? Darn it, here I am just spouting some MPSIMS, but also asking a IMHO question. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/2 "2005-06-04T03:55:56Z")
Thrown to the wolves over in **IMHO**. (They’re nasty buggers over there. You should have kept this in **MPSIMS**. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/3 "2005-06-04T04:04:05Z")
I don’t do vanity searches very often at all (read: never). But now that you mention it… I searched one month back in ATMB, CS, IMHO, MPSIMS, and The Pit. Of the 10 results, 3 have absolutely nothing at all to do with me, one is a flirt thread in which I named myself, one is a post from **jdavis** that lists everyone who got their charter member status back, one is thanking me for responding to a question in the Pit, and the rest are agreeing with me for one thing or another. And it’s all nothing I haven’t already seen, having been an active participant in each of the seven threads. ---
**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/4 "2005-06-04T06:06:04Z")
Well **meanoldman** , I’m no regular and can’t touch your poll, but you inspired me to do my own vanity search. My very first. Turns out I was aware of maybe a third of my board history :smack: . Praise, smears, offers of dirty talk via webcam from married women, all have gone unnoticed and unanswered. Worst of all, **Seige** has been trying to set me up with Pittsburgh-area geek women for _years_, and I never noticed. Do your vanity searches, folks. You won’t be sorry. Maybe if they had a cooler name…? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/5 "2005-06-04T13:31:02Z")
How does one do a vanity search? ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/6 "2005-06-04T13:37:17Z")
Go to Search then advanced. Type in your name under keyword. Voila. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/7 "2005-06-04T16:48:54Z")
I’ve tried to do a few vanity searches over the years, but I just turn up discussions of routers and threads in which **Troy McClure, SF** has posted. I wonder what people have said about me that I’ve missed (if anything.) ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/8 "2005-06-04T17:57:06Z")
Vanity searches on myself don’t come up with much, because most folks don’t spell my username right. At least that’s what I tell myself to explain the lack. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/9 "2005-06-04T18:12:41Z")
I occasionally click the “find all posts” link in the menu that pops from clicking my name, to see if there were threads I rcently participated in that I might have forgotten to check back in. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/10 "2005-06-04T19:01:08Z")
About once a week I check. Mostly because I have often post to a thread and then don’t go back, and so I check to see if maybe I have missed someone responding directly to me. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/11 "2005-06-04T19:17:45Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I occasionally click the “find all posts” link in the menu that pops from clicking my name, to see if there were threads I rcently participated in that I might have forgotten to check back in. I did a VAST hobby project recently where I loaded up ALL of the posts in which I had EVER participated. One thing that always amuses me is that I’ll start reading these years old threads from the beginning. I get to a certain point and a funny observation or snarky comment comes to mind. Then I regret that the post is an archive instead of an active post. But inevitably, a few posts later, I read EXACTLY what I wanted to post. Because I had already MADE that comment years earlier! ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/12 "2005-06-04T19:24:01Z")
I just type in “penis ensues”. Then, I beam with pride, and burn with vague embarrassment. I mean, I’m _proud_ of this thing. I _should_ be embarrassed! ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/13 "2005-06-05T02:47:25Z")
> [@Taran](#): > > Worst of all, **Seige** has been trying to set me up with Pittsburgh-area geek women for _years_, and I never noticed. Doing a vanity search is how I found out **Siege** was trying to contact me too! (Speaking of which **Siege** , if you see this you should email me or call me or something, so we can hang out again sometime. 🙂 ) When I search for my name I have to also search for the “correctly spelled” version since many people type it wrong in responses. But then I pull up lots of Cafe Society threads. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/14 "2005-06-05T02:57:47Z")
Every time I do a vanity search all I find is what a thread-killer I am. ha ha, your thread’s been killed! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/15 "2005-06-05T17:55:05Z")
Just did a vanity search. Everyone of the threads that came up except for two were because I had posted in them. Nope, still an anonymous figure around here. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/16 "2005-06-05T19:05:55Z")
Sharing my username with my old cat is a problem because he shared his with ever so slightly well know Russian Pushkin 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/17 "2005-06-05T19:15:37Z")
My [cat](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=263514&highlight=Pushkin) is more famous on the Straightdope boards than I am! > [@Eva Luna](#): > > went to the pound to investigate, beg, commit a prison break, whatever I had to do to get my Alexander Pushkin back. (Never name a cat after a Russian poet; they’re nothing but trouble.) So I search for myself and find someone’s named their cat after my beloved and long departed tom 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/18 "2005-06-05T20:31:54Z")
I just checked and 11 out of the last 25 mentions of my name weren’t in threads I’d participated in, including four mentions in the “Harmless Doper Crush” thread. Not bad considering I post as much in one month now as I used to post in one hour only a few months ago. ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-vanity-search-omg-a-couple-people-actually-noticed-me/306829/19 "2005-06-05T21:26:47Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > Go to Search then advanced. Type in your name under keyword. > > Voila. Unless, of course, you are super cool and have a 3-letter (unsearchable) name like me :rolleyes: