Skift Take
California ranks among the top three most visited states for domestic and international travelers, but the frequency with which it shows up on social media highlights the breadth and diversity of attractions throughout the state.
Four of the ten U.S. sports venues that saw the biggest increase in Google searches in 2013 are located in California, according to Google’s 2013 Zeitgeist.
California is the only state on the list to appear more than twice with AT&T Park, Sleep Train Arena, the Staples Center, and Rose Bowl Stadium making the top ten.
Social media networks and search sites have been sharing year-end information about user behavior for the past two weeks. And California is the clear winner when it comes to destinations checked into, photographed, and talked about on social media.
The state has appeared more frequently than any other state or country on lists shared by Facebook, Instagram, and Google. A quick overview of the stats are below:
- Four of the 10 most-checked into U.S. destinations on Facebook are located in California. This was the most locations in any one state on the top ten list.
- The most popular location for Facebook check-ins in the U.S. is in California at Disneyland in Anaheim.
- Three of the most Instagrammed cities worldwide are located in California for 2013. It is the only U.S. state to appear more than once on the list.
California is also included in Foursquare’s list of the most checked into U.S. airports and Twitter’s list of the most popular photos of U.S. national parks.
California was the third most visited state by foreign travelers in 2012, according to data released by the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. It captured 20.2 percent of last year’s overseas visitors, coming in after New York and Florida.
Below is a list the sports stadiums that saw the biggest increase in Google searches in 2013:
| Stadium | Location | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AT&T Park | San Francisco, CA |
| 2 | BB&T Park | Sunrise, FL |
| 3 | Sleep Train Arena | Sacramento, CA |
| 4 | Forest National | Brussels, Belgium |
| 5 | United Center | Chicago, IL |
| 6 | Staples Center | Los Angeles, CA |
| 7 | Rose Bowl Stadium | Pasadena, CA |
| 8 | Verizon Center | Washington, D.C. |
| 9 | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY |
| 10 | Yankee Stadium | Bronx, NY |
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Tags: california, facebook, google, instagram, social media
Photo credit: A view of AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. Christopher Bowns / Flickr