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Here's What You and Your Neighbors Have Been Watching on Netflix This Year

Netflix has never seen so much traffic as it has in 2020. What has everyone been watching?

 & Chandra Steele Senior Features Writer

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Have we ever as a nation watched so much Netflix as we have in 2020? Probably not, and also like so much else that has been far more important this year, states are divided on what they want to watch. 

HighSpeedInternet.com decided to find out just what everyone is watching by analyzing Google Trends data nationwide

Overall, The Umbrella Academy has overshadowed other shows, with fourteen states preferring it over all else that the streaming service has in its library. The honor is much deserved, since the second season of the show had the Hargreeves clan time travel to 1963, majorly impact the entire planet (again), and keep us entertained at a time when we needed it most. 

Early on in the pandemic, Tiger King tore its way through Twitter and made for many memes. It holds the top spot still in Kansas and Oklahoma. 

GLOW was dominant in five states, but it couldn’t hold onto its Netflix contract. The streaming service delivered a huge blow to the show and its loyal audience by canceling it

Times are dark, but New York and California somehow still want to imagine the worst—Black Mirror is more popular than all other Netflix shows in those states. 

Very few non-Netflix Original shows dominated in any states. Georgia might have been catching up on Schitt’s Creek before its series finale or celebrating its big Emmy wins. New Mexico has a lot of love for hometown antihero Breaking Bad. And for reasons known only to Oregon and New Hampshire, they searched for Community and New Girl, respectively. 

About Our Expert

Chandra Steele

Chandra Steele

Senior Features Writer

My Experience

My title is Senior Features Writer, which is a license to write about absolutely anything if I can connect it to technology (I can). I’ve been at PCMag since 2011 and have covered the surveillance state, vaccination cards, ghost guns, voting, ISIS, art, fashion, film, design, gender bias, and more. You might have seen me on TV talking about these topics or heard me on your commute home on the radio or a podcast. Or maybe you’ve just seen my Bernie meme

I strive to explain topics that you might come across in the news but not fully understand, such as NFTs and meme stocks. I’ve had the pleasure of talking tech with Jeff Goldblum, Ang Lee, and other celebrities who have brought a different perspective to it. I put great care into writing gift guides and am always touched by the notes I get from people who’ve used them to choose presents that have been well-received. Though I love that I get to write about the tech industry every day, it’s touched by gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequality and I try to bring these topics to light. 

Outside of PCMag, I write fiction, poetry, humor, and essays on culture.

My Areas of Expertise

  • Making incomprehensible tech news easy to understand
  • Expanding the boundaries of topics covered in the industry
  • Figuring out tips and tricks in apps and on devices and letting you know about them
  • Putting together gift guides for everyone in your life 

The Technology I Use

All that gadgets is gold for me: my iPhone 11 Pro, my fifth-generation iPad that I use only for streaming videos and music, my iPad mini 4 that I like to take with me whenever I carry a bag that can fit it, and my MacBook Pro. Why are they all different shades of gold, though? What’s going on, Apple? 

None of them quite live up to my two past loves: my LG Lotus LX600 phone and my Sony Walkman NW-E005 MP3 player. 

I've never given up wired earbuds so I was ahead of all those trend pieces. I use a Mangotek Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter to connect them to my phone. 

I have had so many ebook readers, but I prefer paper to them all. Still, my Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for traveling or when I’m too impatient to wait for a book to be released in paperback.

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