What “Google A Year in Search” Says About the World

As we approached the final days of 2015, Google revealed their top global and U.S. searches for the year. We ‘Google’ just about everything- the sad, the serious, and the absolutely ridiculous. It is something the majority of us can say we do on a daily basis!  Overall, 2015 was a year for transformational change, in technology, politics, and entertainment. The results are in! Let’s see how we’ve searched…

A Year in Search 2015

Image: www.gadgethelpline.com

We’ll start with the most popular search of the year- Lamar Odom.  The Laker, turned Kardashian ex-husband, shocked the world with his life-threatening hospitalization when he was found unconscious in a Las Vegas hotel room. So why is it one of the top searches of the year? Lamar is a man who tugged on our heartstrings, with his rough past and love-story turned tragic relationship with Khloe Kardashian…. and let’s be honest, we secretly thought this would bring them back together.

Lamar Odom

image via Wikipedia

DRESSGATE 2015. Now if you don’t know what I am referring to, then you were somewhere hiding under a rock this year. The controversial and wildly out of proportion debate over whether this (not to mention hideous) dress was blue and black or white and gold was searched about 73 MILLION times.  Even though I am embarrassed to say I might’ve thrown in my own two cents on social media about what color it was…it was weirdly trivial. Yes, it was confirmed that the dress was in fact blue and black. Thank goodness we have moved on since this viral phenomenon to more significant searches.

Dress

Image: www.telegraph.co.uk

The loss that we NEVER saw coming occurred when top searched U.S. athlete, Ronda Rousey, was defeated by underdog, Holly Holm for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. In music, Adele topped out the most-searched music artists, with her astounding comeback single, “Hello.” You know you’ll have this song still in your head well into 2016. Lastly, “Jurassic Park” and “American Sniper” proved to be box office gold, taking the top spot in most searched movies.

Caitlyn Jenner. This was another shocker to the Internet. When formerly known Bruce Jenner had revealed that he was transgender, the Internet was curious, confused, and very surprised. A few months later, she had reemerged as Caitlyn Jenner, and used her celebrity status as a platform to help others. Her acceptance speech at the ESPYs for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award was a top search for months to come.  The movement that began because of her bravery proved to be a giant step for acceptance in the world.

Caitlyn Jenner

Image: flickr.com

The world came together on the Internet on multiple occasions this year. In April, a massive earthquake hit Nepal, killing over 9,000 people. Millions were searching how they could play a part and help in the rebuilding process. In June, we saw a pivotal movement around the US as the Supreme Court ruled gay marriage legal nationwide.  Searches proved that not only were people asking the Internet for more information regarding gay marriage, but also they were searching ways to be accepting of it. Most recently on November 13th, Paris became the target of a terrorist attack. As a result, signs of peace and hope for Paris were scattered all over the world.

Pray for Paris

Image: www.ibtimes.co.uk

Despite all of the silly things we Google on a day-to-day basis, the analysis of the results shown in 2015 shows a great deal of honesty and actual awareness of political issues worldwide. This alone, gives me hope for 2016 and a promising year of more meaningful searches.

To watch Google’s Year in Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7o7R5BgWDY