Apr
7
2003

googlewashed

The Register’s Andrew Orlowski writes about how the meaning of the phrase “second superpower” was “changed” via Google in seven weeks. (“Anti-war slogan coined, repurposed and Googlewashed … in 42 days” - 03/04/03)

Although it took millions of people around the world to compel the Gray Lady to describe the anti-war movement as a “Second Superpower”, it took only a handful of webloggers to spin the alternative meaning to manufacture sufficient PageRank™ to flood Google with Moore’s alternative, neutered definition.

Indeed, if you were wearing your Google-goggles, and the search engine was your primary view of the world, you would have a hard time believing that the phrase “Second Superpower” ever meant anything else.

To all intents and purposes, the original meaning has been erased. Obliterated, in just seven weeks.

Posted at 11:21 AM in language

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