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The Google voter: search engines and electoral information flows in the new media ecology

Trevisan, Filippo; Hoskins, Andrew; Oates, Sarah; Mahlouly, Dounia

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Authors

Filippo Trevisan

Andrew Hoskins

Sarah Oates



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.

Citation

Trevisan, F., Hoskins, A., Oates, S., & Mahlouly, D. (2018). The Google voter: search engines and electoral information flows in the new media ecology. Information, Communication and Society, 21(1), 111-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1261171

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 11, 2016
Online Publication Date Dec 1, 2016
Publication Date Jan 1, 2018
Deposit Date Jun 3, 2019
Publicly Available Date Jun 3, 2019
Journal Information, Communication and Society
Print ISSN 1369-118X
Electronic ISSN 1468-4462
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 21
Issue 1
Pages 111-128
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1261171
Keywords Google Trends, elections, Internet search, media ecology, UK, US

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Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.






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