Google celebrates 2017 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival with ‘Love by Numbers’

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Screen Shot 2017-03-03 at 9.44.29 am.jpgAlmost half of Australia is in love right now, although if you’re a dog owner who likes Vegemite the chances that you’re in love are far higher than if you’re into cats and wear budgie smugglers.

To celebrate the 2017 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival, Google and Australian Marriage Equality asked people from all over Australia to share their thoughts and experiences about love – from what’s an acceptable public display of affection, to who we love and how deeply we feel it, to whether we believe in marriage equality.

Using Google Surveys and YouTube Poll Everywhere, Google gathered insights from thousands of people in all states and territories with the goal of showing how love can take different shapes yet have many common threads. The result is Love by Numbers.

Says Tara McKenty, creative director, Google Australia: “We’re a data-driven company. So we set out to see if we could quantify the unquantifiable, and we polled the nation on love: We asked who’s in love. We asked them how strongly they’re in love, we showed people photos of other people in love and asked if they could spot love when it was right in front of them.”

The team worked with Professor Lev Manovich from City University of New York’s Culture Analytics Lab – a world leader in the field of culture analytics – as well as local experts to design the survey and ensure the questions asked were not leading or biased.

Among their findings were:

●      45% of Australians say they are in love right now

●      67% of South Australians claim to have fallen in love at some point in their lives, whereas just 48% of Western Australians claim to have ever been in love, while Tasmanians are the most in love right now, at 67%

●      Australia has slightly more big spoons (or spooners) than little spoons: 51 to 49%

●      When it comes to PDA, holding hands is fine (84%), but pashing is a little too much (-63%)

●      People in their 20s feel love five times more intensely than everyone else

●      There are significantly more dog lovers in love than cat lovers – some 74% to 36%

●      If you prefer Vegemite to Marmite, you’re five times more likely to be in love right now

●      Despite being in love, we’re not willing to tolerate budgie smugglers over board shorts: 87% of those who are loved-up right now think there’s no excuse to smuggle budgies on the beach

●      Eight out of ten Australians recognise love when they see it, in all its diverse forms

●      63% of Australians think it’s fair to make same-sex marriage legal in Australia

The Love By Numbers data is hosted online by The Equality Campaign, which leads the national campaign for equal marriage rights for all Australians.

Renee LaBriola, who leads Google Australia’s ‘Gayglers’ employee group, said the company was a proud supporter of marriage equality as well as the LGBTI community through its sponsorship of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Community Parade Grants.

Says LaBriola: “At Google, we encourage people to bring their whole selves to work. In all of our 60 offices around the world, we are committed to cultivating a work environment where Googlers can be themselves and thrive. We also want our employees to have the same inclusive experience outside of the office, and for LGBTQI communities to be safe and to be accepted wherever they are.”

The executive director of The Equality Campaign, Tiernan Brady, said the majority of Australians back a fair go for all and want their LGBTI friends, families, colleagues and teammates to have the same opportunities in life.

Says Brady: “Across the nation we will continue to show how marriage equality is simply based on our shared Australian values of a fair go and respect for all and it’s important that these values continue to underpin the ongoing conversation on marriage equality across the nation.

“At equalitycampaign.org.au supporters will find the tools to lobby their MPs, hold local events, and share with their communities the many reasons why marriage equality matters.”