AOL's Search Data Snafu Becomes Theatre

You probably recall AOL's 2006 leak of search user data, which actually was more like a flood. AOL published the search logs of 650,000 subscribers, which eventually resulted in some heads rolling, after the smoke cleared. Why not take a tack from Law and Order and rip a story from the headlines, eh? And that's what director Michael Alltop did.

The show--which opened Wednesday and runs through June 22--is based on a now infamous real-life search log that included queries ranging from "purple lilac," "happy bunny pictures," and "square dancing steps" to "cut into your trachea," "pee fetish," and "Simpsons incest." And that's just for starters.

"It was something that captured my imagination and seemed to suggest some type of dramatic story that could come out of it--a mystery or something about the Internet in general, and privacy," said User 927 director Michael Alltop.


User 927 was one of the "unique" users from the perspective of rather strange search queries, but it was also highlighted when the Consumerist focused on it. 

Interested in not just User 927, but other users from AOL's snafu? Check out the searchable database of queries at AOL Stalker; you didn't really think no one mirrored that data, did you?

User 927 runs through June 22nd at the Studio at St. Stephen's Theater, 10th & Ludlow Streets in Philadelphia.
Tags:  AOL, Search, Data, eco, SNAFU, heat, arc, EA, AR, COM