Intenet Image Searches

Let me start by saying that I am a self professed internet search engine junkie. Knowledge is my friend and I look up pretty much anything and everything I can on the internet. However, that curiosity recently came back and bit me right in my keester. Or I should say, burned my retinas and tattooed my brain with images I never desired to see. Internet image searches are not always your friend and the following stories will give you an indication of why it is I feel that way.

A few months back I took on the task of creating, printing and mailing the invitations for my sisters baby shower. I bought blank, printable card stock and just needed some lingo and an image to dress it up. After some careful consideration I decided I would either use a footprint or a baby bootie for the image on the invitation. I looked through my saved clipart and could not find anything that suited my invitation. I turned to an internet image search to find what I was looking for. My first search consisted of the words baby booties clip art and yielded to many actual photographs to be efficient, so I decided to narrow my search. My second search I decided to be more concise and used the search terms baby girl booties. To my surprise one of the first images in the row was a picture of two larger women in thong bikinis on the beach with their standing cheek to cheek for all the world to see. Now let me say that I am no super model, but that image was just plain wrong. After some careful consideration I scraped the idea of putting "booties" on my invitation and just went with a standard baby footprint.

My second shocking and stomach turning internet image search debacle happened while researching a medical issue. My daughter has had eczema her whole life and up until recently we have kept it well under control. After a recent flare up she developed a secondary rash that was a bit alarming. It was a weekend so I decided to look up some information on eczema and rashes on the internet to see what I could find out. Big Mistake! Although I have done this countless times I wasn't finding what I needed through a simple web search. I decided to do an image search of secondary infections from eczema and rashes. I don't remember the exact search terms I used and even if i did I don't know if I would tell you, because frankly I would not want to subject anyone to the image I stumbled upon. The image that came up in the first row of photos was of a woman's breast infested with larva. Stomach turning is the only other thing I can say about it. Upon further investigation I found out that image was fake. Which was somewhat comforting, but for some reason I am still disgusted by what I saw. Yuck!

So, if it is necessary for you to do an image search, proceed with caution.