Why Is My State So….Stupid, Humid, Corrupt? Google Examines Perception Through Search Results

Google search is so smart that it knows what people in each state think about their area. While we are always looking for ways to utilize Google in a new way it was Blogger Renee DiResta who figured out a fun way to discover stereotypes and discover the main questions people in each state ask about their home area.

For example, for all 50 states Renee typed in “Why is (state name) so” and then she let Google fill in the rest of the answer. I tried it on my own state by typing “Why is Illinois so” and as expected Google filled in with “so corrupt,” “so humid,” “so flat,” and “so broke.”

Having lived in Illinois since 1998 I can attest to the results and verify without a doubt that those four questions are brought up on a regular basis by myself and everyone around me.

While the Google search feature is simple to utilize it’s a new way to examine states that we hadn’t thought of. Just for fun I also typed in “Why Is California so” and I received “so liberal,” “so great,” “so broke,” and “so expensive.”

The only problem? I’m not sure if people were being sarcastic when they asked why California is “so great.”

Slate.com took the questioning so seriously that they actually created an interactive answers map. Head over to THIS LINK and you can hover over each state to instantly see the top Google search results for “Why is (my state) so…” questions.