California Thanksgiving 2018: Tell Us What You’re Thankful For

It’s been four years since data researchers at Facebook studied what people in California were most grateful for. We’re not sure why they haven’t done it since then, but it’s the Thanksgiving holiday, so we’d like to know: What are you thankful for this year?

In 2014 California was most thankful for Youtube. That’s right. Youtube. At the time, people were challenging each other to share as such on Facebook, and the answers appeared to have a theme depending on where you lived.

Several states, particularly in the Southeast, looked to religion for inspiration on what made them thankful.

Mississippi and Arkansas were grateful for “mercy.” It was “God’s forgiveness” for Alabama and West Virginia, and “God’s word” in Georgia. The Carolinas were thankful for “salvation” and it was “God’s love” for Tennesseans. Idaho and Utah were most grateful for “heavenly father.”

States in the Midwest and Southwest were thankful for wet weather.

Folks in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona were most thankful for the rain, all known for long drought spells. It was “Rainbows” in Louisiana and Hawaii, and thunderstorms in four states: North Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri and Wisconsin.

Three states — Nevada, Wyoming and Pennsylvania — expressed gratitude for “country music” and six went with social media. YouTube was the top response in California, Virginia and Delaware. “Pinterest” and “Netflix” were king in Vermont and New Hampshire, respectfully, and it was “Google” in Kansas.

The answers sometimes provide a window into what’s happening. Michigan, for example, was most thankful for electricity. The authors noted this was likely because bad storms had left hundreds of thousands of people in the dark when the challenge was circulating.

The No. 1 answer overall was friends. Family and health rounded out the top three.

“It appears that we are most thankful for the people we are closest to,” the researchers found.

Interestingly, the vast majority of respondents — 90 percent — identified themselves as women, the researchers said, and it appears priorities change as you age. Things like music, coffee and friends are eventually supplanted by spouse and children.

In 2018 and every year at Patch, we are thankful for our readers. Thank you for not just reading but sharing your events and news with us on my.patch.com.

As for this Californian, I am thankful for firefighters and those who stand their ground during wildfires that have recently ravaged our state. I am hoping we can be thankful for rain in the coming months. And, like most of you, I am certainly thankful for friends and family.

So, what are you thankful for this year in California? Tell us! Hopefully, in 2018 we can do better than being thankful for binge-watching Netflix.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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