Top Searches Teach Lessons

Today, Yahoo! released its annual “Top Searches” lists. The “Top searches of 2005” can teach us many things about how Americans (primarily) are using the internet. Sadly, in many cases, it’s not good.

Before showing some of the data, let me say that these lists do not meant that every person is searching for these things in an evil way. Some people are fans of certain movie stars, bands or singers and are searching for new information. Others are seeking concert dates, movie release times and other legitimate information. But for celebrities to top search lists is truly telling, for it takes an extraordinary number of searches to do so (no doubt numbering in the millions).

Here are some facts for preachers, Bible class teachers and parents to notice about the Top Searches, especially if they are dealing with young men:

• The top 9 searches by “image” (where the matches are all thumbnail pictures), are female celebrities: Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie, Pamela Anderson, Jennifer Lopez, Hillary Duff and Carmen Electra. Compare that to the 2004 list, when only three female celebrities cracked the top 10 searches of the year.
• In the month of November, the “top moving search” (the search that increased, percentage-wise, the most) was “Carolina Panthers Cheerleaders.” That sports story is about two females engaged in lewd behavior in a bathroom, and it shot up searches on the internet for the football team and the cheerleaders.
• Hurricane Katrina finished 7th in the “top news stories” searches, just behind #6–Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
• Just three individual athletes were able to crack the top 10 sport searches. Usually teams and leagues dominate that category, but three ladies were able to generate enough buzz to get onto the list: Maria Sharapova (#5), Anna Kournikova (#6) and Danica Patrick (#8).
• The most searched-for item of all the searches performed on Yahoo! in 2005? Brittany Spears.

Are there some things we can learn from these numbers? I think there are a few general truths that can come out of lists like these.

1. We are a celebrity-crazed society. Now, it is true that more older people are likely to look for information in newspapers, on television and in more “traditional” news outlets. However, is it not amazing that Hurricane Katrina was only the 7th most-searched-for item of all of 2005? Is it also not more amazing that it finished behind a celebrity couple’s relationship? That is telling as to what interests most people in our nation.

2. We need to be careful what our children are searching for. Again, for anything person or thing to make the top 10 “most searched for” items, there has to be an extraordinary number of searches on a consistent basis. The top 9 “image” searches being female celebrities should tell us something! Parents, did you even know that one can search by image? Did you know that the “safe-guard” on Yahoo! does not always catch nude pictures? Did you know that it can be turned off and back on without you ever knowing it?

3. Most obviously, we are a sex-crazed society. Good looking women, cheerleader stories and female athletes are what we most want to see.

The internet is a wonderful tool. It can be used for so many good things (and I hope this blog is doing that). However, it is much like money. It, in and of itself, is not bad, but what one does with it makes all the difference. Let’s make extra sure that we use this great tool for good.