Tech

Some people still confused about who is running for president

Josh Peterson Tech Editor
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Despite the incessant bombardment of political advertisements this election season, there are still people in the U.S. who are unsure about who is running for president.

According to search data from Google’s Google Trends tool, not only are U.S. searches for “who is running for president” at their highest since 2004, the highest volume of Internet searches came from Tennessee, with users in Kentucky following close behind. The Daily Caller checked the trends, which constantly change, at 2 p.m. on Election Day.

Polling indicates that the Romney campaign should expect a solid victory in both states.

Google notes that its data represents “search volume relative to the highest point on the chart, which is always 100.” Tennessee was a solid 100 on Google’s index, while Google ranked Kentucky at a 94. Indiana users ranked third at 89.

Continued growth in the number of American adults using the Internet may offer at least one explanation for the increase in the search volume.

Data from Pew Internet & American Life Project surveys taken between 1995 and 2012 shows that as of August 2012, 85 percent of American adults — 18 years old and older — are using the Internet. In 2004, 63 percent of American adults used the Internet.

In 2010, Tennessee ranked slightly higher than Kentucky in household Internet usage in and out of the home, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2010, 69.4 percent of Tennesseans ages 3 years old and older lived in a household with Internet access. Kentucky, on the other hand, ranked as one of the bottom five states in the country, tying Alabama with 67 percent of its citizens of the same demographic range living in a household with Internet access.

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