So if this is an article that my distant future great-grandkids use in their history project in disbelief of the stories that their school robot is teaching them, then I hope this finds them well.
I don't know what I expected to see as top searches in the world during this global pandemic, but I find solace in knowing that everyone's searches are as simple as mine. Are we the generation that types "google" in the Google search bar? Why yes, yes we are. Are we ALSO the generation that instead of hitting the mail icon in google's upper right hand corner...we type "gmail" in the search bar. According to an article by Tim Suolo, both the terms "gmail" and "google" landed on Google's most searched terms of 2020 at spot #4 and #5 respectively.
Listen great grand kids... it was the worst of times and the "worser" of times. We were trapped in the house and our only cape wearing hero existed in the format of a search engine that could bring us anything we wanted in seconds. We were hooked, especially when we had nothing else but time and anxiety.
We stared desperately out of windows trying to gauge the weather as we imagined what times were like when we could frolic through open fields. So much so, that the term "weather" landed #6 on the list. I actively am in this group of millennials, in fact I often stand in the open door way and still search for the weather.
But of course topping the list is "Facebook" with over 151.5 million people searching the term. That's what happens when we're forced to stay at home, we search out communication and social connection in the far etches of the world...world wide web that is. We did things like virtual Facebook parties, game nights, and shared millions of memes that we sat at home looking through our many saved images to find the right one. We were those people. The people who already had anxiety from the last two recessions. We are tired and stressed. So, I'm not surprised to see that Facebook topped the list.
In another not so shocking turn of events, "Youtube" comes in at #2 on the list with 142.2 million searches from people trying to fill their time with videos spanning self-development to simple humor.
Coming in at #3 is tech giant, Amazon.com, with over 87.4 million searches. They were also one of the top growing stocks of the pandemic, they provided incomparable services by being one of the only available shipping sites that could deliver within 2 days. During times where shopping in person could be life or death, Amazon definitely provided an essential need.
The pandemic definitely has shown us all the importance of time and health that no one could have expected. With the entire world pretty much on lockdown, the hope that the internet provides is our blanket within the storm and I don't think we ever want to let go.