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Posted on February 13th, 2009 by Darien Graham-Smith

Search suggestions: a window on the soul of the net

You know the little search box in the top-right of the Firefox window? Then you doubtless know that as you type search terms into it, Firefox brings up suggestions as to what it thinks you might be looking for.

You’ve probably never given this feature much thought. I hadn’t, until yesterday when I was searching for some obscure technical fact and (perhaps because we’d just been talking about natural language recognition on this week’s podcast) I absent-mindedly started to phrase my search query as a question. I didn’t get far in – just one word in, in fact – before realising this was unnecessary.

But that one word was enough to give Firefox an idea as to what I might be searching for: immediately it brought up the impressively varied suggestions you see above.

I have to admit, none of these was the question I’d had in mind. But, believe it or not, a lot of people must be searching for these things — otherwise they’d be pretty cussed suggestions. And so they provide a fascinating insight into the interests and concerns of the online population.

In this particular case, for example, they reveal that people still have their doubts about President Obama. Questions about the 44th President of the United States knock Santa into a poor fifth place. Indeed, all across the web there’s only one issue more urgent than whether or not Obama is the antichrist.

This set me thinking: what other cultural revelations could this seemingly-innocent box yield? Inspired, I set out to see what other search terms might unearth, and here are my ten favourite discoveries…


1. WHY PEOPLE … 

Obviously a lot of people on the internet are confused about human motives. Why do people lie? Why do they commit suicide? Clearly a sizeable contingent of truth-seekers has turned to Google in the hope of understanding why we smoke, drink and engage in other sorts of anti-social behaviour.


2. WHERE DID I PUT … 

Some people put a little more faith in Google than they really should. Yes, it can find your motherboard drivers. It can even find your house. But no, dude, it does not know where you left your weed. And it’s not a mind-reader — you could at least tell it the title of your damn book.


3. WHY IS … 

This one really brings home the breadth of the internet as an information resource. At once it can deal with the wonders of physics, geology and astronomy… and other, more earthy issues. It also indicates that a decent proportion of internauts have read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.


4. IS MY … 

This one too bespeaks Google’s authority as a fount of information. People seek its advice on all of life’s important matters, such as finance, technology and affairs of the heart. They also seem to think it can detect ghosts. And some people really ought to pay more attention in court.


5. DO GIRLS … 

It’s tough growing up, and trying to fathom the mysteries of the opposite gender. Luckily, today’s adolescents have the world’s largest encyclopaedia at their fingertips. Well, it’s got to be better than asking some of these questions to the girls themselves, anyway.


6. MY SISTER IS … 

Of course, some boys are all too well-acquainted with the ways of females, and generally it seems they’re not impressed. Though if my brother kept saying things like this about me, I’d probably run away and turn to drink as well. I like the fact that these aren’t even questions. What are these guys expecting to find?


7. SHE NEEDS … 

As boys mature, they generally warm to the idea of girls. But still they’re a troublesome gender. Girls have a tendency to come out with bizarre declarations which the rational male mind cannot comprehend. Maybe Googling the phrase in question will help you understand what she means.


8. WHO STARTED … 

This one exposes the more inquisitive, almost academic side of the online population. It’s not all me, me, me: sometimes they want a historical perspective on the events and organisations that have wasted so many lives.


9. CAN A … 

Somewhere in Hollywood there’s probably a producer who’d pay good money for the rights to this one. Starring Emma Watson as the middle-class white girl who gets knocked up by a video-game playing homeboy from the wrong side of the tracks. Lil’ Wayne could be the male lead, if he’s still alive.


10. I NEED TO … 

A comforting one to end on. No matter how bad things may be, there’s always someone worse off than you, and so clueless they are actually searching the internet for “I need to make money fast”. Perhaps it’s related to number 7. One thing, though — you, sir, do not need to register to vote.


So… that’s my top ten (eleven if you count the crazy Obama suggestions that started it all off). Have you found any other good ones?

 

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7 Responses to “ Search suggestions: a window on the soul of the net ”

  1. Lise Says:
    February 13th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

    You wanna know about the female psyche? Try “Will he…” It’s almost tragic.

    And hey, TRL is ending?

     
  2. Steve Cassidy Says:
    February 13th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    One of the really tragic findings about people & computers is that if you give benefit claimants a computer questionnaire to fill out, they end up claiming more benefit (legally: the questionnaire i built to avoid false clams) than they do if they are quizzed by another human bean. the questionnaire and the computer takes away a lot of the shame they feel for having to ask…

    I would really like to see the return on those hot-word searches – I’m almost afraid to write the word “nigga” as a searchable piece of text when you have snapped it as a screenie. Now, I’m just off to use Google to find out who Emma Watson is…!

     
  3. muck Says:
    February 13th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    It’s not actually Firefox that is making these suggestions to you but in fact Google. You get the same results in Internet Explorer

     
  4. Nick Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    I thought these were fantastic. Can a virgin get pregnant! Classic! One would delve into the comedy of asking if a virgin gets pregnant is she a virgin, but that’s one for Google again.

     
  5. Lindsay McKirdy Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 2:13 pm

    Can a virgin get pregnant!

    13 year old Mary did to her friend Joseph…….sorry, God did it!

     
  6. Wolfiewolf Says:
    February 20th, 2009 at 5:51 am

    Fascinating – and brilliantly written.

     
  7. Dan Course Says:
    February 20th, 2009 at 11:53 am

    Wow, following on from will he…

    will she
    does she know
    i wish that (a bit like… http://www.georgeandhelen.com/becarefulwhatyouwishfor.html)

    and for a final laugh,
    my mum

    p.s., there’s no relevance between my mum and the above searches before cheeky comments start! :P

     

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