Occasionally, I like to take a quick scan of Google Trends to know what’s going on, as a sort of idle alternative to reading the Times. And today, I came across a hot search list headlined by a few celebrities, Stand up 2 Cancer, and “9 11 pictures”. This was a curious trend to me. Why are people searching for 9/11 pictures?
I’m almost certain that millions of people don’t just want to refresh their memories of this horrific tragedy. Also, in the hot searches, “911 memorial” ranks eighth (three behind “9 11 pictures”), while “September 11” is all the way back in the eighteenth spot: You’d think that people who were looking to remember fallen ones, would be more prone to search for “9 11 memorial” or at least “September 11”, rather than looking for pictures.
So why are 9/11 pictures so popular?
Well, I believe that it’s not because people particularly want to view these photos, but because they want to publish and use them.
As soon as an anniversary of 9/11 arrives, the blogosphere lights up with posts regarding the terrible loss of lives, charities benefiting victims, and the “truth” about 9/11. In fact, according to Surchur, a web trends site, the popularity of “September 11th”, “9 11”, as well as a number of other terms relating to 9/11, are a 10 out of 10 in blogosphere popularity right now. Of course, naturally, photos of the event are an essential element in postings about 9/11, so every blogger is looking for appropriate photos to use.
At the same time, school has started and teachers are all preparing to assign the first homework of the year. I’m sure that many teachers would turn to 9/11 as a topic for an essay or study project, which many students will want to include photos in.
But why is it that “9 11 pictures” is such a popular search term on September 10th? Well, I believe this is the answer:
Think about it. If you’re a blogger wanting to take your blog viral, you’re gonna want to be the first one to post about everything. And the best way to be the first one is to post before things even happen. Numerous bloggers are either publishing or working on their posts today, in order to “stay ahead of the game”.
So that’s my explanation to this phenomenon. Just look at things in a different, more creative way, and you’ll start seeing explanations to everything.
