• By Amanda Sage
• in Guest Blog
• May 19, 2011
• More_posts
• Amanda Sage website
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Oh, the number of times I have asked this simple little question.

"Have you Googled it?"

While I enjoy being considered rather smart by people I've helped through a quandary in the past, I must admit that I'm not able to divine the solution to all known things. I know, this may come as a shock to you, but often, I've been just as stumped or clueless as the person coming to me for advice.

That is, until I Googled it. (By the way, Google is indeed a recognized verb.)

There seems to be an inordinate amount of blog posts, articles, forum posts, and videos on pretty much every topic under the sun. Windows is giving you an error message? You can't remember how to get bubble gum out of carpet? You're not sure which Android app is best for taking notes? You need help proposing marriage? Trust me, it's out there.

Google is the most popular website on earth and the most used search engine for a reason. (Facebook is second.) Do you know which site comes in third? You Tube. That's right. People search for things on YouTube before they hit Yahoo! or Bing. But regardless of which search engine or website you use, they'll still find the information you're looking for!

But is it trustworthy?

There has always been a bias that information on the internet is skewed, faulty, unresearched, etc. And there can be some truth in that. But there are a lot of quacks out in the real world, too. I always encourage you look at a few websites to find solutions that seem the most accurate, up-to-date, or whatever is necessary to you, but I assure you, there is good content out there!

Side bar: Did you know that Wikipedia is more accurate that Encyclopedia Britannica?

How you can use this to your advantage!

Well, besides saving a lot of your own time and the sanity of the people you constantly beg for help, there is a way to make this work for you:

Become the person answering the questions!

Yes, the student becomes the master! One of the best advantages of social media, in my opinion, is the ability to easily broadcast what you know to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Why can't it be your blog post that is solving someone's problem? Why aren't you answering peoples' questions on LinkedIn Answers and Quora? Have you considered recording a simple YouTube video explaining how to do something? Why not!?

Maybe now is the time.

(Originally posted at http://www.gonggongcommunications.com/blog/when-in-doubt-google-it.html)