Ego search (ego-surfing)

Overview

An ego search (known in English as ego-surfing) is the act of searching social media or search engines for your own name, handle, account name, or the name of a service you run, to check what others say about you. It is often shortened to egosa. Ego is Latin for "I."

Ego searching has a rational side as a way of gathering information: knowing your reputation, checking that misinformation isn't spreading, and getting feedback. In business, it is done strategically as "social listening." On a personal level, however, it can affect your mental health.

Question boxes and ego searching

When the person answering in a question box does an ego search, they can see how their answers are judged outside the question box. There are favorable mentions like "That answer was spot on," and there are critical ones like "That answer missed the point."

The problem is that, because of the negativity bias, critical mentions stick more strongly in memory. If there are 10 favorable mentions and 1 criticism, people get dragged along by that 1 criticism and tend to feel "I'm being criticized" even when the results of an ego search are, objectively, favorable. Ego searching is going out of your way to look for food for your negativity bias.

Keeping your distance from ego searching

You don't need to stop ego searching completely, but managing how often and when you do it is important. Ego searching every day can become a burden on your mental health. Setting a rule like limiting it to once a week, at a time when your mood is stable, is realistic.

Try to avoid ego searching when you're feeling down. When you're down, confirmation bias can kick in so that you notice only the negative mentions. If that strengthens your belief that "I'm no good after all," it becomes a vicious cycle.

Instead of ego searching, it's healthier to value the feedback that comes straight to your question box. The voices of people who take the trouble to send you questions are worth more than the comments of third parties you find through an ego search.