The Buzz Week in Review
by Molly McCallMar 14, 2008
As we look back in wonder at the events and buzz of the past week, one question comes to mind: What were they thinking? And more specifically...
What was the governor thinking? Or his wife?
Eliot Spitzer's stunning downfall dominated the week's Buzz. And Search. And news. And pretty much everything else. The intense interest in the sordid tale drove queries on "the emperor's club"—the prostitution ring linked to the lawmaker—up nearly 37,000%, making it the fastest moving search on Yahoo! over the past seven days.
Spitzer's wife, Silda, found herself the subject of a surprising amount of scrutiny. An AP story on Yahoo! News reported that many women wondered why she stood by him. The report garnered over 190 votes and parked itself loyally at the top of the week's most popular Lifestyle articles. In Business, a press release from DontDateHimGirl.com blasted into the #2 slot for the past seven days. It promotes the website's tips on how to make your marriage cheat-proof. Apparently, the ex-first lady's dilemma struck a chord.
The "other" woman in the string of events attracted a colossal amount of attention too, of course. In the week's Entertainment buzz, a Huffington Post piece on Ashley Alexandra Dupre, aka "Kristen," the 22-year-old call girl Spitzer was caught making plans with, soared to the top of the week's Buzz. Articles on everything from her MySpace page to her short, sorry biography picked up traction. Her name continues to hover at the top of our hourly searches.
What was Mary Ann thinking?
Though Spitzer rode roughshod over most of the week's news, a few other stories still managed to slip to the top of Buzz. One of them was a Yahoo! News article on Dawn Wells, the actress best known for her portrayal of Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island." The aging star was caught in a pot bust, fined several hundred dollars, and slapped with six months of "unsupervised probation." But the indignity didn't stop there.
The story stirred a tremendous amount of interest in Search—but not about Dawn Wells. Instead, lookups skyrocketed for Tina Louise, the va-va-voom redhead who played Ginger on the show. We registered an astonishing 13,076% rise in demand for her name (compare that to Wells' 5,860%). Just the thought of Mary Ann triggered all these luscious old memories of Ginger, Ginger's photos, and Ginger's legs. Searchers also boosted "tina louise news" and "tina louise now." What would the Professor say?
What was that, uh, little gnome thinking?
A Boing Boing post about a South American "gnome" rounds out the top three highest-scoring articles in Buzz this week. Some kids out late one night in Salta, Argentina captured cell phone video footage of what appears to be a pointy-hat-wearing, stout little humanoid side-stepping along the street. Whether this is truly a mythic creature unveiled at last, we can't say. But the post entranced Buzz readers. It posted a big Buzz score and garnered hundreds of votes. Searches for "gnomes" jumped more than 400%.
Other stories that spiked in Buzz this week:
—The Vatican updated its list of seven deadly sins, and scored some big Buzz points. Polluters, social injustice-creators, and genetic engineers, watch out.
—The Democratic presidential candidate from Illinois smacked down the notion of Vice President Obama, and drew the highest political buzz of the week. The kafuffle over Geraldine Ferraro's comments also brawled its way upwards.
—The Dallas Morning News reported that Southwest Airlines grounded dozens of jets for safety reasons, and ascended to the top of the week's Business buzz (just beating out Spitzer, Spitzer, and Spitzer).
—Finally, Argentina might have a gnome, but Northern California has proved it has at least one wolverine. A rare photograph of the elusive beast thrilled scientists and Buzz readers alike; the article posted a triple-digit Buzz score.