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USING GOOGLE TRENDS TO RESEARCH CURRENT TRENDS IN MEDIA LITERACY
Abstract
Using Internet search data may reveal intentions and expectations in various areas of scientific interest in social sciences. One of them is media studies and especially the research of media literacy, where search engines such as Google can shape the way of investigation of current social trends and academic discourse in the field. In this paper, we analyse various ways of using specific data gathered by Google and delivered by the Google Trends service. We examine whether the online activity measured by Google searches can be a valid source of information to investigate how social trends correlate with current media literacy topics and areas of scientific interest. This paper provides some examples of how researchers could use Google Trends service to study specific search terms such as 'fake news', 'hoaxes' and other emerging collocations with which media literacy research is concerned. We conducted time series on Google search data to investigate the continuity of these terms with current geopolitical events, as well as significant social and political events, such as the election of the US president. We discuss ways in which we can use these emerging sources of data to investigate how social trends evolve over time.
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