subject: Google Search a Great Way To Gauge Social Trends [print this page] Google Search a Great Way To Gauge Social Trends
Not only does it provide us with the most comprehensive series or answers to any query in a matter of milliseconds, but Google can also tell you a lot about the kind of society we live in.
From a brief but representative bit of research, you can discover much about your fellow man and woman, especially now that Google offer to complete your search query.
For instance, our growing obsession with social media means that any entry of 'F' into the search box will immediately offer 'Facebook' as the first suggestion. It remains top of the list as one types all the way to F-A-C-E. OK, so this alone may not be a surprise to many, but when the same experiment is tested with various other social media sites linked-in, twitter, bebo similar results are produced.
'Tw' equals 'Twitter', 'Be' equals 'Bebo', and 'lin' equals 'linkedin'. So there we have it, social media reigns supreme in today's online world. It is however, not the only notable and persistent presence when searching; it would appear that we are preoccupied with the idea of a making and saving money in any way, shape or form.
For example, from a query beginning with 'Qu', one may think of Queen, the Queen of England, or the once famous and much loved 'Quantum Leap'. Now however, we find ourselves faced with 'Quidco', a cashback and voucher code site. No doubt a search for 'gr' will insist upon 'Groupon' as the most relevant outcome...Second only to 'Grooveshark' apparently.
Another humorous yet educational social test is this: search for 'rent a g....' and see what comes out. This really is a sad reflection on our usage of the greatest communication and information sharing device ever created.
So 'gimps, Germans, and grannies are all the most highly sought after rental opportunities beginning with g today. Not a generator or a gorilla suit like one may expect. How times have changed. In a matter of years generator rental has been cast aside, humiliated by the ascension of internet driven fetishes and frivolity.
I suppose this is what happens when the internet becomes such a ubiquitous and easily accessible device. Only 15 years ago such a denigration of one of the greatest inventions in history would have seemed akin to the current use of the mobile phone as a backscratcher.
