Google’s Place in Society & Culture
A brand has truly made it when it becomes a verb, when its very name is used to represent doing something in our lives. Kleenex is a brand of tissue, but has become a verb. Fibreglass became a verb for home insulation. How a brand name becomes a verb is an example of culture at work. It is a societal act, one that no amount of advertising can buy. Google became a verb.
In many ways, Google has become to modern society what cave paintings were to our ancestors. Information technologies, especially those that curate knowledge are a critical aspect of sociocultural systems and the evolution of humanity.
Perhaps in no small way, no matter how one might feel about where Google is today or what it has become, Google has become the verb of the start of the internet age. And make no mistake, we are still in the opening days of the internet. The digital era’s equivalent to when telephones started to enter into homes and offices for daily use.
With the rapid rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI), such as Large Language Models, ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s own Gemini, DALL-E 3 and Midjourney and now the GAI powered Perplexity and You search engines, many are decrying the death of Google. Perhaps, in a long time.
Often, when revolutionary or game-changing technologies enter society, we are quick to predict the…
