The Google voter: search engines and elections in the new media ecology

ABSTRACT

This paper explores key Internet search trends for electoral information vis-à-vis the broader media ecology in the UK and the US. An innovative methodology is introduced that maps the informational trajectories of key election events by combining Google Trends data linked to significant news events during the campaigns. While the research found spikes of search that suggested a seemingly trivial event in the US could drive voters to search out deeper information on related policy issues, the study did not find the same phenomenon in the UK. This invites a reflection on the opportunities available to Internet users/voters in the changing informational landscape and how scholars can leverage Google Trends records to better understand how voters seek information in new and evolving media ecologies.

KEYWORDS:

• Google Trends
• elections
• Internet search
• media ecology
• UK
• US

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Filippo Trevisan is Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, DC, USA [email: [email protected]].

Andrew Hoskins is Interdisciplinary Research Professor in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow, UK [email: [email protected]].

Sarah Oates is Professor and Senior Scholar at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA [email: [email protected]].

Dounia Mahlouly is a Research Associate in the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London, UK [email: [email protected]].

ORCID

Filippo Trevisan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2463-4596

Sarah Oates http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2154-0121

Notes

1. For a comprehensive history of competing versions of ‘media ecology’ and its theoretical influences and uses, see Strate (2006).

2. This required a simple equation: N : 100 = n : X.

3. The graph shows a search peak in conjunction with the 2012 Democratic Convention held on 4–6 September. A separate Google Trends query returned a similar search peak for Mitt Romney during the 2012 Republican Convention, which took place between 27–30 August.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/K007890/1].