People in Clinton states are Googling totally different things from people in Trump states

By Fusion Staff  |  September 13, 2016 | 6:04pm
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If you need more proof of America’s polarized political and cultural climate, there is no better thing to observe than Google search terms.

A University of Maryland sociologist Philip Cohen looked at a recent map from FiveThirtyEight showing the sites state-by-state electoral projections.

He then uploaded the the FiveThirtyEight scores to Google Correlate, which finds search patterns that correspond to real-world trends.

Below are the Google searches with above-average frequency in Trump-leaning and Clinton-leaning states.These are not necessarily the “top” or “most frequent” searches, but rather ones that, in this case, make it a dead giveaway whether you’re in a Trump or Clinton state. So, if you’re searching “New dollar coins,” chances are very good you live in a Trump state and are very unlikely to be in a Clinton state.

Trump

  1. New dollar coins
  2. “In God We Still Trust” (a song by the Christian group Diamond Rio)
  3. Beretta (a gun manufacturer)
  4. Patriotic pictures
  5. Taurus 1911 (a type of gun)
  6. Haircut pictures
  7. Hornady 9mm (a type of ammunition)
  8. Hidden gun
  9. Dorkfish (a reference to a 1998 comedy album by Bill Engvall)
  10. AR 15 reviews
  11. Impeach a president

Other noteworthy results: maternity shirts, a vasectomy, obama jokes

Cohen separated the top results into categories:

Clinton

  1. Peace Now (an NGO promoting peace between Israel and Palestine)
  2. Top Chef Masters
  3. Chef masters
  4. J-Live (a rapper)
  5. Top Chef Season 6
  6. Top Chef Bravo
  7. Top Chef
  8. Grand Prix final
  9. Top Chef Season
  10. Prince Paul (a DJ)
  11. “Worst Comes To Worst” (a rap song by Dilated Peoples)

Other noteworthy results: “Before Sunset,” “1Q84,” “Indian Dal”

“So ‘Obama jokes’ is a relatively common in Trump states and rare in Clinton states, while “Before Sunrise” is a common search in Clinton states but rare in Trump states,” Cohen told Fusion in an email. “So it’s telling us about the Google search behavior of people in Trump versus Clinton states.”

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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