Transparency is one of those words that has a lot of different meanings to a lot of different people. It’s been showing up in unexpected places this year.

Its use at a panel discussion on social media last week caught my attention.  In a response to a question about using social media outlets for consumer marketing, the panel urged transparency in social media campaigns.  They encourage you to be clear to the audience about who you are and your intentions.

Isn’t that the transparency we seek in all the other ways the term is currently being used?

I used Google’s Trends tool to see how the term’s search pattern in the United States has trended, which you can view here: http://www.google.com/trends?q=transparency&geo=usa&sa=N

Its search volume has increased slightly so far this year over last year.  But what I found most interesting is that occurrences of the word “transparency” in news articles for 2009 are up significantly and steadily over last year.

Google Trends is a tool that we use in our interactive planning. And it’s also cool to check out for cultural trends like this.