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It's pretty but what is this really telling us? There's a 126% increase in searchers for "Voter intimidation" in Hoback, Wyoming. OK, so does that mean that som

It's pretty but what is this really telling us? There's a 126% increase in searchers for "Voter intimidation" in Hoback, Wyoming. OK, so does that mean that someone's being intimidated? Planning to intimidate? Curious about the news? Does a "126% increase" mean there were 7 searches today instead of just 4?

alistairSH 10y ago
And increase since when? What's the baseline? I would expect most of these searches to increase in frequency on election day, even relative to SuperTuesday or 2012.
listentojohan 10y ago
Good points, I thought the same, but they actually address that if you click the logo (though it's just a possible explanation of how that data point might be explained): "FEARS OF VOTER INTIMIDATION KEEPING PEOPLE FROM THE POLLS We’ve had a lot of reports of people worried about going to the polls because of threats of voter intimidation. While the fears are real — and we certainly expect to see one-off issues of attempts at intimidating voters (like the Trump supporters will bull horns in West Palm Beach) — there is no evidence to suggest that an organized campaign to intimidate voters is underway. " [1] https://projects.propublica.org/electionland/ https://projects.propublica.org/electionland/
- nostromo 10y ago
  Like everything in politics, there's an ulterior motive to many of those reports. "They don't want YOU to be able to vote!" is a great way to get your people to vote.
nostromo 10y ago
It's meaningless. Near Seattle there are trends reported for "voter intimidation" and "long wait times" and "voting machine problems." Those trends make no sense for a region that votes by mail.
- mtgx 10y ago
  How come? I would think the opposite. Voting from home absolutely applies to "voter intimidation" situations. Someone could literally be in your home with a gun to your head, making you vote the way they want you to vote. The same problem as well as vote buying applies to online voting, too. But those are not even the biggest problems with online voting, so most people tend not to focus on them.
  - bowmessage 10y ago
    Voting machine problems though?! There are no voting machines here.
    - Sacho 10y ago
      If you dont have voting machines, it would make sense for you to google about them to understand what other voters are talking about, no?
      - ethanbond 10y ago
        Maybe, but that's kind of the point. A search string + location + change in occurrence tells you literally nothing.
- thesimpsons1022 10y ago
  i'm searching this stuff in california. not because it's happening to me but i want to hear about the horrific things happening in north carolina and elsewhere.
- folksinger 10y ago
  The reports of "voter intimidation" on the electionlandstrends map matches the boundary of this racial demographic map. http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_nhwhite.gif http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_nhwhite.gif Here's those two maps combined: http://i.imgur.com/eKT5s0h.png http://i.imgur.com/eKT5s0h.png
fny 10y ago
The most value I see here is the map presents you way to observe state-by-state disparities about the searches that MAY reflect some state-level, systemic disenfranchisement due to voting laws, disorganization, negligence and like. For example, it's notable that NC has a high concentration of searches for "Inactive Voter Status" compared to a much more populated state like Texas. Of course, this could just mean people in NC are more curious about "Inactive Voter Status" than the rest of the country... but I would reserve that possibility for search terms like "Voter Fraud" that are a more politicized.
jpalomaki 10y ago
They are tracking what search terms people are using to search from Google. These search terms have been grouped under few headings, like "voter intimidation". Looks like they are not telling what search terms are actually used. Maybe this is to prevent people from gaming the system. "[...] To ensure the map includes the most relevant trends, we compiled a list of ways English and Spanish-speaking voters might indicate voting issues through their search queries on Election Day, by looking at historical data from 2012 Election, Super Tuesday 2016, and early voting 2016. We combined hundreds of the most relevant search terms around the following voting issues [...]" https://medium.com/google-news-lab/how-google-trends-data-will-fuel-electionland-tomorrow-6c465814179c#.cc39d1d80 https://medium.com/google-news-lab/how-google-trends-data-wi...

alistairSH 10y ago

And increase since when? What's the baseline? I would expect most of these searches to increase in frequency on election day, even relative to SuperTuesday or 2012.

listentojohan 10y ago

Good points, I thought the same, but they actually address that if you click the logo (though it's just a possible explanation of how that data point might be explained): "FEARS OF VOTER INTIMIDATION KEEPING PEOPLE FROM THE POLLS We’ve had a lot of reports of people worried about going to the polls because of threats of voter intimidation. While the fears are real — and we certainly expect to see one-off issues of attempts at intimidating voters (like the Trump supporters will bull horns in West Palm Beach) — there is no evidence to suggest that an organized campaign to intimidate voters is underway. " [1] https://projects.propublica.org/electionland/ https://projects.propublica.org/electionland/

nostromo 10y ago
Like everything in politics, there's an ulterior motive to many of those reports. "They don't want YOU to be able to vote!" is a great way to get your people to vote.

nostromo 10y ago

It's meaningless. Near Seattle there are trends reported for "voter intimidation" and "long wait times" and "voting machine problems." Those trends make no sense for a region that votes by mail.

mtgx 10y ago
How come? I would think the opposite. Voting from home absolutely applies to "voter intimidation" situations. Someone could literally be in your home with a gun to your head, making you vote the way they want you to vote. The same problem as well as vote buying applies to online voting, too. But those are not even the biggest problems with online voting, so most people tend not to focus on them.
- bowmessage 10y ago
  Voting machine problems though?! There are no voting machines here.
  - Sacho 10y ago
    If you dont have voting machines, it would make sense for you to google about them to understand what other voters are talking about, no?
    - ethanbond 10y ago
      Maybe, but that's kind of the point. A search string + location + change in occurrence tells you literally nothing.
thesimpsons1022 10y ago
i'm searching this stuff in california. not because it's happening to me but i want to hear about the horrific things happening in north carolina and elsewhere.
folksinger 10y ago
The reports of "voter intimidation" on the electionlandstrends map matches the boundary of this racial demographic map. http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_nhwhite.gif http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_nhwhite.gif Here's those two maps combined: http://i.imgur.com/eKT5s0h.png http://i.imgur.com/eKT5s0h.png

fny 10y ago

The most value I see here is the map presents you way to observe state-by-state disparities about the searches that MAY reflect some state-level, systemic disenfranchisement due to voting laws, disorganization, negligence and like. For example, it's notable that NC has a high concentration of searches for "Inactive Voter Status" compared to a much more populated state like Texas. Of course, this could just mean people in NC are more curious about "Inactive Voter Status" than the rest of the country... but I would reserve that possibility for search terms like "Voter Fraud" that are a more politicized.

jpalomaki 10y ago

They are tracking what search terms people are using to search from Google. These search terms have been grouped under few headings, like "voter intimidation". Looks like they are not telling what search terms are actually used. Maybe this is to prevent people from gaming the system. "[...] To ensure the map includes the most relevant trends, we compiled a list of ways English and Spanish-speaking voters might indicate voting issues through their search queries on Election Day, by looking at historical data from 2012 Election, Super Tuesday 2016, and early voting 2016. We combined hundreds of the most relevant search terms around the following voting issues [...]" https://medium.com/google-news-lab/how-google-trends-data-will-fuel-electionland-tomorrow-6c465814179c#.cc39d1d80 https://medium.com/google-news-lab/how-google-trends-data-wi...