Deseret News | What do Utahns Google? Answers may come as surprise

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What do Utahns Google? Answers may come as surprise

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clean words? | 1:58 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

some people have made comments that slc is first for clean words like boobs and pornography. i have searched some of the dirtier words and slc is usually not first, however we are first for "muff" so congrats slc.

To Researcher | 3:01 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

I would love to see some of your research. Anyone can write researcher in their topic line and say something and try to give themselves credibility. Why don't you post where we can find your "research". I don't buy that you are a researcher if you claim that porn and crime are not linked. There is plenty of research that shows that they ARE linked.

DEFENSIVE | 3:53 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

...look how defensive all the Mormons get about these topics... wow

Comments continue below

Dave | 3:57 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

This was NOT a good article. The inclusion of "lingerie" with pornography, ect. really adds a sophmoric touch. In fact it destroys credibility to what could have been a convincing arguement.
I know several years ago I was a little suprised at home to see "Victoria's Secret" in the internet history and google auto-fill but that was also the same time I got married. That data doesn't need twisted into having anything to do with sex addiction or pornography. This article has blurred a valid issue and just adds to people's confusion about Utah culture. FIRE THE LEE DAVIDSON!

What?? | 4:32 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

This is the stupidest, most judgemental thing I've seen on one these blogs...what the heck is this:

"In order to keep my children safe, I automatically assume that everyone I meet is addicted to porn and is potentially a child molestor. That is why my children are rarely left alone with others, especially men." Thanks dblagent007. You've got the perfect answer. Hey everyone...honk if you agree. Let's all assume everyone is this or that and keep our children away from men.

Ya...real nice lady. Sounds like you need therapy. Freakish nuerosis is going to get you and your kids real far. Yepper. So how's Relief Society these days?

AS | 4:51 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

Dear What??,
I don't entirely disagree with dblagent007. Her approach may be a little extreme, but we are raising our children in a very dangerous world, and you don't need to be Mormon to see that. I am in fear every day that if I turn my back for one second while out in public I could lose one of my children. There are predators that wait in the wings for just such an occurence. We live in an indulgent and degrading society, even here in Utah. Every single day you can find stories about children being molested, raped, murdered, and all things in between. Do I think the lady has "freakish neurosis"? Absolutely not. I think she has the same fears that most of us mothers have. We all choose to live our lives the way we feel is best, and that extends to our parenting. Let's not let us turn that into a dig on Relief Society, which I think probably has very little to do with her decisions.

Nuclear Rabbit | 5:07 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

The battleground for good/evil is all over. Where there is a lot of good, there is bad. We are the extreme state. But would we want to live in a mediocre state where nothing (generalization I know) is fought against? Are we up to the challenge? It's scary out there and the internet has been a blessing and a curse at the same time. Light/Dark, blessing/curse....opposition in all things. I'm sure porno brings immediate gratification but really it can take the "life" out of people whereas sex was created to bring life.

Workinglate | 5:23 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

What a freaking riot that site is. Based on extensive research done in the last 15 minutes, here's what I found:

Happy people live in Portland, Oregon
Rush Limbaugh must lives in St Louis, MO
Tendy people live in NYC
Nerds and Dorks live in Austin, TX
Cool people live in Nashville, TN (Ok, right there, I started to doubt the validity of my research)
Complainers live in Pleasenton, CA
Whiners live in Newark, NJ (Ok, research appears to be back on track now...)
Football fans live in Columbus, OH
NBA fans live in San Antonio
Terrorists live in Washington, DC (insert the political joke of your choice here ->> )
Smart people live in San Diego but Idiots live in LA
Winners live in Louisville, KY and (drumroll, please...)
Losers live in Salt Lake City, Utah

Sorry about that - no offense - it's just data (to be specific "loser" is top in SLC, "losers" tops in Austin, TX - probably coorelated to the nerd & dork reference above)

workinglate | 5:35 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

Defensive - I agree - if someone defends themself, the charge MUST be true. Let's all stand for nothing!!

Ken Goddard | 6:17 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

Yahoo is just as good for porn and related sites. And yahoo is best of all for stock market info. I never use google but I guess I ought to try it using some of those key words.

Thomas | 7:08 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

I wonder if the reason Utah ranks so high on Google searches for porn-related keywords is that the rest of the country *already knows where the really nasty sites are*. They don't have to search. Poor Utahns have to go fumbling around looking for generic "boobs" and have to be satisfied with the first link that pops up.

Any self-respecting Californian would simply type in the (memorized) address of any number of graphic sites.

porn addict ex wife | 7:32 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

I am NOT Mormon but have been left high and dry as a result of being married to a porn addict for 7 years. I didn't know he was one when I married him, but he destroyed everything, because porn addicts objectify people and treat them as such-like BIC lighters or something. They're narcissitic. Now I'm 56 and without anything after finally busting this guy. Porn has many deeper issues attached to it than just a turn on. It's merely a substitute for a truly intimate relationship. All addicts share many of the same qualities. So...whether or not we're number 1 for porn. As long as there's even one porn addict around, there'll be lives destroyed-guaranteed.

food for thought | 10:17 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

It's like food, if you over indulge it is not healthy. A good snickers bar every now and then won't make you 30 pounds over weight.

LC | 11:20 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

Jeez, people. Like I said before, I don't think all this is about people searching for porn. It's the Mormon children who are very naturally curious about sex - or even a way to see a nude body! Sex just isn't talked about in most Mormon homes - I know because I grew up in one and was clueless for far too long. If I had had the internet growing up, I would have Googled those words, too.... and I was a total Molly Mormon! I'm not condoning online porn - just trying to explain my theory and keeping all the freaked-out Mormons from feeling accused of being addicted to pornography.

Huge Oversight | 11:47 p.m. Oct. 12, 2007

Very interesting article. However, it has a serious flaw.

Being #1 for a given key word means very little because it does not put the key word in context in the world of all key words used for a certain category, .e.g. porn. For example, there may be 1,000 key words that link to poronographic content. ï¿½Porn,ï¿½ ï¿½pornography,ï¿½ ï¿½XXX,ï¿½ ï¿½bad girls,ï¿½ ï¿½girls gone wild,ï¿½ ï¿½playboy,ï¿½ etc. So given the world of porn key words, which are the ones that get most traffic nationally? And where does Utah fit within that context? We may be #1 for ï¿½nudityï¿½ but that may a very seldom used word when you look at porn traffic in total. It may be, given the world of porn words, Utah has high hits on certain words, but is very low in total porn words.

The article gives no context and is therefore meaningless at best, misleading at worst.

I dont know | 12:13 a.m. Oct. 13, 2007

What about jello? Or carrot salad? Or White bread and real butter?

Lavar | 1:09 a.m. Oct. 13, 2007

That's why we call it the Sinner Net, and I won't let it into my home.

re:LC | 10:26 a.m. Oct. 13, 2007

LC, Im sorry. Your not in LDS homes. My kids knew from a very early age where baby's come from and why. And I was taught that in a combined RS and Priesthood lesson. ( a little information each year at a FHE....)I didn't want my kids to learn about sex the way I did. (at a slumber party)But that was back in the 60's. I think America as a whole is better at teaching kids about sex.
If you teach your kids young, they think "big deal" when they hear it at school..
Because LDS people don't want the schools to teach them about it, I think more and more of us do teach at home.
I have 4 grown kids...all married and it seems they have great private lives. It's none of my business. They are all active LDS and are teaching there kids the same I did them. My 8 year old granddaughter knows what sex is..

Umm... I don't think so | 11:29 a.m. Oct. 13, 2007

That "boys will be boys" attitude is total crap. And much of what they say about the stats is total crap.

fundamentalist Christians??? | 11:38 a.m. Oct. 13, 2007

IT IS THE FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIANS IN UTAH HITTING ON ALL THIS STUFF TO RUN UP THE NUMBERS ON UTAH SO THEY CAN PUBLISH IT IN THEIR ANTI MORMON LITERATURE! MAKE UTAH AND MORMONS LOOK BAD. THEY ARE THE CULPRITS WHO WANT TO BASH THEIR UTAH MORMON FRIENDS BY SCEWING THE NUMBERS. IT IS A DAD BLASTED CONSPIRACY! "DAD BLASTED" WILL PROBABLY COME UP NO. 1 IN UTAH ALSO BECAUSE UTAH FEMENISTS DO NO TRUST OLD MEN. NOW, QUIT IS BAPTISTS! GO TO WORK ON LAS VEGAS! YOU ARE REALLY NEEDED THERE!

fundamintalist Christians | 12:27 p.m. Oct. 13, 2007

Hey everyone! It's the fundamintalist Christians who are hitting on all these sites to create statistics to publishin their Ani Mormon Literature!! It's a dad blasted conspiracy. Now, I suppose "dad blasted" will be No. 1 in Utah also cause the feminist women in Utah hate old men. Come on Baptists, go to Las Vegas and do your conventions where it will do some good....you have run out of gas here in Utah! Love YA.

Mormon in Las Vegas | 1:40 p.m. Oct. 13, 2007

I thank God every day for the LDS church. 1 in 13 people in Las Vegas are LDS.
Driving to the airport and seeing signs and taxis is shocking. When we lived in Tennessee one of the youth ministers that went to SLC to "Save the Mormons" for the Baptist Convention ended up becoming a Mormon. He was shocked at what they were trying to convince other people that had not beeen to SLC what the Mormons believed and wanted no more to do with that bigotry. From being a non-mormon until I was 21, I have to tell you that it's been the best thing for me and my increase in happiness. My kids made much better choices during their teenage years and were so much more cheerful and happier. Just from my own experience, depression stemmed from making poor and confusing choices as a teen because I knew sort of what was wrong and right but didn't have that clarity the church teaches. I'm glad the church teaches us to avoid pornography. In doing so it teaches us "Misery Avoidance." Teach your children to avoid ponography like the plague, because it is a plague.

Anonymous | 5:05 p.m. Oct. 13, 2007

"They all see it as part of the age-old struggle between light and dark that goes on everywhere "

I cringed when I read that line. Sounds like a Sunday School lesson, not an article published by a legitimate newspaper.

HAHAHAHA | 6:59 p.m. Oct. 13, 2007

This has to be the funniest thing I have read on here in quite some time:

I just want you to know that I would never allow anyone to watch my kids if I knew that they were looking at porn, even soft porn, even bras and swimsuits.

Swimsuits are porn? So that means your family only wears long pants, long sleeve shirts with collars buttoned to the top? Or do you dress them in porn-wear (swimsuits) and let them play outside?

Google Google | 7:10 p.m. Oct. 13, 2007

It's Google Funny.

Tim Harper | 8:04 p.m. Oct. 13, 2007

it may be worthwhile to consider that in Utah pornography is not as available in other states through mediums other than the web. For example, pornography may be easier to obtain at a local smut video store or stripper joint in other states.

Therefore, the fact that Utah has the most searches for pornography related items, does not mean that Utah is necessarily the largest consumer of pornography. It just means that in Utah, people tend to get their pornography through the Internet more than other states.

so? | 12:16 a.m. Oct. 14, 2007

And do we google "stupid ideas for articles" or "useless reporters"?

Jacob | 2:51 p.m. Oct. 15, 2007

ROFL a girl I know used to be an escort. She said the little "perfect" husbands that attend church on sundays were her top clients. They would have her show up during their office lunch break...then they would come home without their perfect little housewives knowing anything.
I can just see their credit card statements now....ok...tithing....groceries.....online porn. LOL

Excuses, excuses | 9:37 a.m. Oct. 16, 2007

I love to read how Mormons try and explain away the results of facts such as these...give me a break. Obviously, there is a high demand for porn and obviously, a lot of Mormons are doing this. I also love that when an article which makes the Mormon church look bad, these readers, who love to read positive Mormon articles, deem the story as not being newsworthy or as being "anti-Mormon" in nature. Just face it, bad stuff goes on in this religion, just like any other religion. Dont try to explain it away.

Arm of Orion | 10:02 a.m. Oct. 16, 2007

Excuses Excuses

Why do you enjoy the Mormons getting up tight so much?Is it perhaps you have a personal vendetta? Please stop being acting like a parent speaking to a naughty two year old.

Any-mouse | 1:18 p.m. Oct. 16, 2007

I dont see what all the lds vs anti-lds hubub is all about. Its what "Utahns google (in SLC)" not "What do Mormons Google in Utah". SLC is no longer majority LDS anyhow, therefore not the majority of the statistic. Bunch of fuss over nothing.

scotty | 2:06 p.m. Oct. 17, 2007

A few of you above already touched on this point, but there is a big difference in searching for 'pornography' vs. 'porn'. The google trends site is very interesting but doesn't give a complete picture of what is going on. Mr. Davidson's article had a brief few paragraphs quoting the google spokesperson about some of the limits but that is pretty much techno-babble to most. But if you read it carefully the disclamer is right there. Bottom line, this article leaves an impression that is simply not true. The impression that Utahns top google searches are for Jesus and Pornography. That is simply not what the google data is saying. Yes, the clinical term 'pornography' shows that salt lake city searches most for that term compared to other cities in the united states region, but the term 'pornography' is minicule in usage compared to the term 'porn'. That is true for all the PG rated words this article references 'boobs' 'naked girl' etc. What google's data says is that salt lake city shows up high in using these PG terms because nobody else in the united states is using those search terms much.

science guy | 9:29 p.m. March 24, 2008

I would be quite leery of the data relied upon for this article.

I'm a computer engineer with 30 years of experience, and have a good understanding of how the Internet works. The internet doesn't explicitly mark the geographical origin of a request. Instead, Google is guessing where a request came from based on the location of the user's ISP. This works OK, but isn't totally reliable.

For example, I live in California, and did a traceroute (one of the tools Google uses) to byui.edu. Not surprisingly, most of the servers that came up are based in Utah. BYUI is, however, in Idaho. This is not uncommon, as the internet isn't setup to follow state boundaries.

Scotty's point about search words is also very much correct. I did a search of the word "pornography" with safe search turned off, and got what I expected: a list of anti-pornography sites. Calling something by its clinical name is, generally, a turn-off, and the slimy evil stuff just isn't "marketed" that way.

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