Biden Search Results Trump Trump; Facebook News Trends Higher than Other Social Media News
Google Trends data supports search results for Joe Biden are more prominent than Donald Trump around important election dates. Searches for Facebook News remain in the lead when compared to searches for news on other social media sites, Google Trends says.
Searches for Biden trump Searches for Trump Around Important Election Dates
During the 2020 Election year, the presence of the political race dominated social media and online news. With two very different candidates, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, running against each other in the election for President of the United States, the commentary on their campaigns, online presence, message and power were nearly impossible to miss.
According to an analysis of Google Trends data, search terms for “Joe Biden” peaked over search terms for “Donald Trump” around dates of November 3rd, the election, and January 20th, the Inauguration.
The data shows, however, that although searches for Biden peak around very important dates in the election, searches for Trump receive a higher average amount of searches over the past 90 days.
During former president Donald Trump’s term, the media and online social media were dominated with both positive and negative stories regarding his status as Present of the United States resulting in very polarizing feelings toward the former president. Many of the stories released during this time seem to sway more popular culture than true political news, but that may be the times changing.
When comparing where these search terms were higher than the other, the only state that shows a larger search for Joe Biden is Nebraska, with 51% of searches for Biden and 49% for Trump. The data collected seems to support that over time, searches for Donald Trump have been more prominent over the past 90 days, but in regard to important political dates in regard to the election, Biden trumps Trump.
Searches for Facebook News Dominate Searches for News on Other Social Media Regardless of Facebook Fake News Issues
Social Media sites Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram dominate the social media scene with immense amounts of users who receive their sources of news from these platforms. Amongst all the speculation and investigation around Facebook and the sharing of “Fake News” on the Platform, an analysis on Google Trends search data supports that Facebook News still remains in the lead when compared to search terms for other social media news.
Facebook is a place to connect with people users may already know, typically people with similar interests or feelings like family and friends. Twitter differs, with users only able to share condensed information in a limited amount of characters, but with the ability to share much faster and to a larger audience. Instagram, owned by Facebook, may not bring much to the table in regard to news.
The sharing of personal photos and life stories on Instagram may not support much data of spreading news, perhaps only on the Story feature where users are able to share images and links to their followers. Reddit, a forum site, is a known location for conversation among recent news and the sharing of information.
What does this mean for news and how it is searched? With some social media sites now flagging content for potential misinformation, Facebook still remains in the lead even throughout all its trouble with the spread of misinformation.
One question remains, how does this affect the intake of news and decisions made for U.S. citizens?
