(January 26, 2007) — Bravo. Click. CNN. Click. Fox News. Click. E! Entertainment. Ahh…As usual, I sat down in my sweatpants after school sipping a glass of green iced tea and flipped through the channels on the tube to see what would catch my interest tonight. Glimpses of politics, natural disasters and local burglaries flashed on the T.V. as I decided on what would take up the hour or so before I went back to my homework. The sinful delight of watching the latest celebrity “Oops!” seemed much more delectable to me than having to watch another accidental shooting in L.A. Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan exposing too much booty today? Fabulous. In order to ease my mind from the thoughts about what seemed like an endless night of homework, I had to choose. Would I rather watch a video of a famous actress who many idolize making a fool of herself, or would I update myself on information about a fatal disease spreading across the world killing millions by the year? Though it may seem shallow, I’d choose the video, only because I know I would get a few good laughs rather than an addition to my constant worry about my own future. Due to this mindset, the Internet is an outlet for many people’s needs to get away from it all. The top Google searches of 2006 were released in December and presented a more shallow side of the country. Bebo and Myspace were the top two most searched terms of 2006. Paris Hilton and Orlando Bloom had more searches than Hurricane Katrina in the news searches. The 2006 NFL draft and Celebrity Big Brother 2006 were also on the list after cancer and autism. These search results show Americans as being shallow, but in my opinion, Americans want a way to get away from the cruel realities of life at times. An example is when surfing the net, they turn to celebrities, sports and reality shows to distract themselves from their everyday lives. I think that as Americans we have many things to worry about. For older citizens, it’s the bills, the kids and the weight issues. For younger people, we know the daily concern of a sleepless night spent studying, pressure of dealing with relationships and worrying about the future. I think that’s why many people choose to amuse themselves with useless facts about what certain celebrities wear, rather than watching BBC’s latest coverage on the war in Iraq. Top 10 Google news searches of 2006: 1. Paris Hilton 2. Orlando Bloom 3. Cancer 4. Podcasting 5. Hurricane Katrina 6. Bankruptcy 7. Martina Hingis 8. Autism 9. 2006 NFL Draft 10. Celebrity Big Brother