Predicting the politically odd mood of the country
Predictive text is clever technology. Google, the internet search engine, has now introduced it to help us find things quicker.
I have discovered this development also gives us a valuable insight into the UK's current political mindset.
For the uninitiated, predictive text means technology second-guesses
the word or phrase you are after.
In the case of searching on the internet, this allows Google to suggest the most common searches, along with details of how many results it can deliver.
In a quiet, though not wholly unproductive moment, I thought it would be fun to use Google to search for information on our main political leaders using predictive text, while also seeing what others had searched for in the same line.
I began with Gordon Brown. I followed his name with the word 'is' and the results were most revealing. 'Gordon Brown is an idiot' delivered more than 330,000 results, followed by the suggestion he is not 'an idiot', just 'incompetent'.
I know this is a family newspaper but to demonstrate how bad things are for the PM, folk have also been searching using significantly more disrespectful words. Further searches include the words 'liar', 'moron' and 'useless'.
To prove this column is impartial, I carried out the same experiment with David Cameron.
Sadly the results were less colourful. 'David Cameron is sexy' delivered just over a quarter of a million results while 'David Cameron is an idiot' delivered 141,000 results.
Some may claim Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg doesn't have the highest profile in politics and according to Google they would be right.
It appears in the UK no-one has been searching for information about Clegg the same way they have for Brown or Cameron.
Type in the words 'Nick' and 'Clegg' and 'is' into Google and you'll end up only with a handful of results about him and Israel.
Warming to my theme, and possibly to the large glass of Merlot at my side, I entered the words 'Tony Blair is…' to be met with the most popular results of 'dead' and the 'anti-Christ'. The results for Barack Obama revealed many had searched for 'is not black', 'is the anti-Christ' and most surreally 'is your new bicycle'.
The latter delivered 829,000 possible results and made me question whether or not my glass was too full.
This exercise might seem trivial, but I believe it offers a real life insight into what UK citizens have been searching for online when it comes to our political leaders.
In a world dominated by polls and focus groups, this information is genuinely revealing. And the US president and the bicycle? It turns out it's the title of a book!
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Weather for Chichester
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
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