If we’ve learned anything in the past 12 hours, it’s this: Polls can be off; pundits can be wrong; predictions can be mistaken. Google searches, on the other hand, remain an excellent barometer of our collective id.
That was the certainly the case in the early evening on Tuesday when, according to Google Trends — a tool that identifies news topics spiking in search — Americans began searching by the tens of thousands for political news sources and basic information like “when do polls close on Election Day.”
It was the case between 8 p.m. and midnight, when election results began to come in, and Americans overwhelmingly searched for counts from Pennsylvania and Florida, specifically, as well as general “poll trackers” and the ever popular “who’s winning the election.”
But you see a shift begin when the answer comes back, definitively, as Donald Trump. There’s suddenly a lot of concern about the stock market and Russian President Vladimir Putin. And there are a lot of questions, as there always are, about Canadian immigration. This, in short, is the story of blue America’s post-election grief, as told through Google searches.
– 12 a.m.
Presidential election results
Projected election results
Latest polls
CNN
– 1 a.m.
California
California electoral votes
Hillary Clinton for US President
– 2 a.m.
Pennsylvania
Electoral votes
What is an electoral vote
How does the electoral college work
Popular vote
Nate Silver
Dow futures
Who’s winning Trump or Hillary
– 3 a.m.
Michigan
How many electoral votes are there
Who is ahead in the polls right now
Popular vote
Canadian immigration
How to move to Canada
Canadian citizenship
– 4 a.m.
Elections
Who is in the lead for President
– 5 a.m.
Who is our new president
S&P 500
Conceded
Inauguration Day
Harambe
– 6 a.m.
David Duke
Democracy
Make America Great Again hat
– 7 a.m.
Riots
Maine election results
Stock market crash
– 8 a.m.
Clinton concession speech
Trump acceptance speech
Move to Canada
Putin
– 9 a.m.
Donald Trump memes
Hillary Clinton concession speech
Riots
Russia
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Caitlin Dewey