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‘What happens if we leave EU?’ search spike shows people have no idea what they voted on Brexit day

Published Jun 24th, 2016 7:15AM EDT

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As unfathomable it may have seemed to some, the Brexit is happening. The United Kingdom decided that it’s time to leave the European Union and be on its own again – well it’s not exactly on its own as there are a bunch of countries in it. However, it looks like many people have no idea what they voted in the Brexit referendum on Thursday. Or better said, according to a recent spike in search traffic, many people don’t understand what it means to leave the EU after the vote. That’s after so many experts from both sides tried to explain it in the months leading to this crucial vote.

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An impressive number of people voted in the Brexit referendum, according to the BBC. More than 33.5 million people voted, or 72.2% of the electorate. 51.9% of them think it’s wise to leave the EU, and voted accordingly. In all, more than 1.2 million votes separated the two camps.

But what’s sad about the vote is not the outcome, but the fact that some people have no idea what it means if the UK leaves the EU.

As Google posted on its Google Trends Twitter account, there was a more than 250% spike in searches for “what happens if we leave the EU” in the hours following the referendum.

That appears to be a rather serious problem. Google Trends might not tell us how many people have searched for that after the referendum concluded. And it’s really not clear whose supporters performed the most searches after the vote concluded. We’ll also point out that more than 37% of the electorate, or almost 13 million people, have not voted in the election. But it certainly looks like there are plenty of UK citizens who have no idea what leaving the EU means, and they may have voted for or against nonetheless.

In case you’re still wondering “What happens if we leave EU?” then this John Oliver segment will explain part of what that means.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.