What the Most Popular Questions of 2021 Say About Us
Google has just released its annual Year of Search , a collection of new, most searched searches for 2021. According to Matt Cook, head of Google News Lab, “A year in search always provides an exciting insight into what a nation is thinking. , learning and discovery – about yourself and others. ” Remember: these are not the most popular queries in general , but the most popular queries that were not previously the most popular, so “Coronavirus” or “free pornography” will not be included, because they have always been with us, and “Squid Games” will appear …
Surprising: “Why is this happening?” and “Dear God, Please Stop This” haven’t topped the world’s search results, perhaps because we’re shouting about it and Google’s voice-to-text feature hasn’t been fully adopted yet. Instead, people (people who use Google anyway) are more likely to search for “Australia vs. India” and “India vs. England,” terms that refer to cricket World Cup matches. (Cricket is a kind of sport.)
While Cricket Interests Many provides a fascinating insight into what thinks, explores and discovers the world, we are Americans, so let’s get serious about us !
What people are looking for on the query “how to be”
We at Lifehacker.com are working on the issue of “how to get better”, so Google searches starting with “ How to be …” are of great interest to us. These results, invisibly entered into the search bar in the middle of the night, are a secret window to our deepest desires and aspirations. It turns out that in 2021, deep down, what we most wanted to know was how to get free money and look our best.
Despite the inspiring Google video , we weren’t looking for things like “how to be persistent” or “how to respect someone.” The number one most frequently searched for “how to be” in the US, and A was “How to qualify for an incentive test.”
Next on the list was How to Become More Attractive, and then, depressingly, How to Be Happy Alone. We also want to know how to kiss better, how to be considerate and how to be romantic (which is nice for us).
The big picture is the return of life to normality / platitude. We think about how to make people like us and how we will deal with our inability to make people like us, instead of fighting a disease that could kill us all.
Oddly enough, “how to be a flight attendant” was seventh on the list. One might think the pandemic would make a career in closed cells filled with unwanted coughs, but obviously, for many, it’s still an attractive option.
How much is the USA better than other countries?
I suspect that the United States is better than any other country, and would like to compare our “how to be” results with those of other English-speaking countries to determine our superiority. Unfortunately, Google only breaks down searches that start with “how …” for other countries, not “how to be …”, so a direct comparison is not possible. Google search results do show that New Zealand is the prettiest English-speaking nation on Earth, however.
Hello New Zealand, the most charming nation on earth!
In New Zealand in 2021, the most searched for “how to draw”. Also in the top ten: “how to cook porridge”, “how to solve a Rubik’s cube” and “how to cook pancakes.” I want to live a lifestyle in which I am most concerned about cooking porridge and solving Rubik’s Cube.
The second most beautiful nation on Earth is Canada , America’s hair. Canadians spent 2021 looking for “how to make hot chocolate bombs” and “how to get rid of a stuffy nose”, among the expected “how to make money from home” and “how do I get a vaccine passport”.
How to pronounce…
Perhaps the most surprising result of all Google’s 2021 trend data is the list of “how you pronounce” queries for the United States. According to Google, the second most popular search term for pronunciation in 2021 was “how do you pronounce Michael Jackson’s words.” If you’re having trouble, it’s pronounced “Michael Jackson”.
We also wanted to know how to pronounce “dogecoin” (according to its creator, pronounced “dowzh · koyn”), how to pronounce X Æ A-12, the name of Elon Musk’s son (according to his co-author, this is pronounced “X Ash A Twelve “) And how to pronounce quinoa (pronounced” do people actually eat this? “). We all also wanted to learn how to pronounce “sausages” (shaar · ku · tr · ee) correctly. This is a good sign for our people. Please use Lifehacker meat appetizers to spice up your life by putting meat and cheese on the platter.
Other Google search data that matters
Two different “kernels” made it to the top ten Google for “aesthetics.” Cottage and Kidkor. Cottagecore is “an homage to traditional English country style, romantic and nostalgic,” Davina Ogilvy, founder of a startup that makes “bespoke (but affordable and affordable) window treatments,” told Architectural Digest .
Kidcore is ” bright colors and nostalgia for 90s icons and children’s themes.” These “mainstream” trends are equally annoying, but both speak of a longing for the past.
According to a Google search, the color of 2021 was sage green, a pea soup / baby vomit shade that perfectly reflects the year.
The most popular “or” question asked by Google was “influence versus influence,” a question I asked Google every time I wrote a word until I read the succinct explanation of Lifehacker top grammar Megan Moravchik Walbert.
However, our search results do not fully reflect the “we have overcome this plague” attitude. Search results for “or” indicate that we wanted to know if it was a sinus infection or COVID (that’s COVID), cold or COVID (again COVID), allergy or COVID. (It’s still COVID.)