As another year gets ready to disappear in the rear-view mirror, the folks over at Estately put some of 2015's cultural milestones under the microscope, vis a vis the most popular Google searches by state. Let's just say that some of our 50 states went for the dark and newsy, while others strayed toward the quirky and downright strange. Some of the highlights:
- Arkansas: Arkansans had basically two things on their minds: ISIS (related searches included "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," "Syrian refugees") and the Duggars ("19 Kids and Counting," "Josh Duggar). They threw in "blood moon prophecy" to round things out.
- Florida: The Sunshine State was most concerned with "concealed weapons permit," but also "Obamacare," some fellow named "Marco Rubio," and "Trump net worth."
- Louisiana: Feeling guilty? The top two searches were for "Ashley Madison hack" and "Blue Bell recall."
- Maine: Maine apparently had one thing on its mind and that was "Amy Schumer."
- Michigan: Inquiring Michiganders wanted to know "What is transgender?" and searched for "marriage equality."
- North Carolina: Perhaps a little late to the game, "Confederate flag meaning" was tops, followed by "concealed carry permit" and "Blake Miranda divorce."
- West Virginia: "Magic Mike XXL." That is all.
Click for
Estately's full rundown, including a largely embarrassing map; a list of
2015's most notable quotes is here. (Meanwhile,
Politico reports that Bernie Sanders has sparked such consternation that Merriam Webster's most-searched term this year was "socialism.")
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