Two stories sped across the Internet this week and exploded in the pop culture psyche. One is true, and the other is not.
First, the true story: Yes, there really is a Claire Swire. She works at a dot-com marketing firm in London. Last week she sent email describing a randy sexual act to her boyfriend, Bradley Chait, a lawyer at the London firm of Norton-Rose. Chait sent the email on to some friends with the note, "Now THAT'S a nice compliment from a lass, isn't it?"
Within a few hours, the email had been forwarded from friend to friend and around the globe. The result is an international phenomenon, and Lycos users searching for the email or information on Swire put her at #20 on this week's Lycos 50.
An embarrassed Swire has gone into hiding in London, and her boyfriend will likely lose his job. Let this be a lesson, albeit a very funny one, to be discreet in your emails.
While the Claire Swire email is amazingly not a hoax, the death of rap star Eminem (#12) is a hoax. An enterprising youngster posted a story, formatted like the CNN website, which said that the pasty rapper was killed in a car crash last week. Don't worry, fans, the Shady One is still with us.
Nine percent of Eminem searches referred to the fictitious story, while only a handful referred to last week's real Eminem news - the star has reconciled with wife and in-song murder victim Kimberly Mathers.
HE'S THE PREZ: The final end to Election 2000 (#13) puts presidential candidates George W. Bush (#16) and Al Gore (#25) back on the Lycos 50. The U.S. Supreme Court gets all the way to #8 as Lycos users searched for information on the nine votes that finally mattered and the decision that put Bush in the White House.
Searches for Bush received an extra boost from searches for the Bush-Cheney Transition website. The transition team is accepting online resumes for jobs in the new administration. 16 percent of Bush searches specified the transition.
MOVIES HOT: They are still short of the Lycos 50, but we're seeing a larger number of searches than expected for the martial arts film Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger and the teen comedy and Oscar favorite Dude, Where's My Car?
ATHLETES COLD: Searches for Alex Rodriguez go up 275% after he signs his 252 million-dollar contract with the Texas Rangers, but he still gets only 12 percent as many searches as the items at the bottom of the Lycos 50.
Also, are people sick of Tiger Woods? He won Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, and was named most powerful person in sports by The Sporting News, yet his searches didn't go up at all.
SHORT SUBJECTS: The new sequel "Elves in Paradise" puts Elf Bowling (#50) back on the Lycos 50... She's been on the cover of Stuff Magazine for a couple of weeks, but searches for actress Tori Spelling go up nearly 500 percent this week? Jennifer Lopez (#23) is shoots back up on the strength of her new single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing," and her new album JLO, due January 23? Hanukkah, which begins the night of December 21, makes its first appearance of the year at #31? Is a rare wintertime appearance by golf (#47) related to vacations, Christmas gifts, or Tiger's awards?
NEW THIS WEEK: George W. Bush, Claire Swire, Al Gore, snowboarding, Hanukkah, South Park, golf, Elf Bowling.
DROPOUTS: Pearl Harbor, college football, scooters, Napster knockoff Gnutella, NBA, the periodic table of the elements, anime princess Sailor Moon, Greek mythology.
BIGGEST RISE: U.S. Supreme Court, up 13 places to #8.
BIGGEST DROP: Backstreet Boys, down 18 places to #44.
ONE YEAR AGO: The original Elf Bowling reached a high of #11 and punk-popsters Blink-182 made their first-ever appearance at #50. This week they are at #64.
TOMORROW: It's the big finale of the 2000 Web's Most Wanted with the final Top 50 of 2000. Then be sure to join me at clubs on Thursday night at 8pm EST as I chat with Lycos users and answer questions about the 2000 Web's Most Wanted awards.
NEXT WEEK: The Lycos 50 weekly report will appear on Wednesday due to Christmas.
