The concept is simple: search something, get the previous person’s search as your results. But what does Mystery Google actually do? What does it add to society? Basically nothing. However, it does provide amusement and procrastination opportunities for the average student.

But what happens when your are aimlessly searching on ‘Mystery Google’ and you get a phone number, along with a reason to text it? Would you text the random person? And why would a random person want you to text them anyway? It is easy to assume that it’s just for amusement; something to make a dull, average and boring day a little more exciting. But what if it is not? How do you know the person on the other line isn’t trying to steal information from you or target you in some other way? Is that other person really to be trusted?

Now I’m not saying that texting a random person about the meaning of life, farmville or a mission they came up with for you isn’t entertaining – you bet it is. But when does entertainment become risky? When does curing a few hours of boredom become putting your phone number on a site like ‘Mystery Google’?

It makes me wonder not only about the safety of college students, but the safety of the younger kids as well. As college students we should know that giving anything that would lead someone to you out online is not the smartest idea ever – especially if you don’t know who is receiving it. But what about the middle-school and high-school kids? Do they know when to stop?

The Web is not a safe place all of the time, but for kids who have grown up with it, the familiarity makes it seem safer than it really is. The Internet has become an integral part of life, but do the kids growing up today know the dangers associated with it? If ‘Mystery Google’ is any example of that, I am afraid they don’t. You’d be hard pressed to go more than a few searches without a phone number popping up. It’s a dangerous game those kids are playing, but do they know it? I hope so.