As we head towards the final days of 2021, we greet the end of the second year into this new decade. We head into our third year of life in the times of COVID-19 and a new 12 months of a world moving faster than the speed of light. Until then, we reflect on these past 12 months of some of the most unprecedented times we’ve faced so far. Below, you’ll find some of our handpicked observations of trends highlighting a year in review.
This year, we observed a world in synchronized motion, extending helping hands and open hearts across cultures and continents, searching “how to help Palestine,” “how to help Afghanistan” and “how to help Haiti” as international events exploded across innumerable countries every month of the year. The devastating rise of crime against Asian American populations, especially towards the beginning of the year, saw internet users digging deeper into “what is a hate crime.” Amid perpetual international crisis and turmoil, our global population joined typing fingers to raise their collective awareness and elevate our international consciousness, in hopes of a better future.
While the world continues to recover and restore balance in the midst of the global pandemic (“post-pandemic” is still not a thing!), global economies have struggled to regain momentum. Google searches were a warning for ‘great resignations’ occurring worldwide with November’s top global search asking “why people are quitting their jobs.”
Makes sense to ask that question, since the world also wanted to know “how to start a business” and “how to get a job” as we enter a significant socio-cultural and political revolution that will change the way we work, the way we sustain ourselves and the way our world supports our lives the way it was meant to be – free to live and direct our lives the way we want, the way we need, the way we deserve.
In the United States, the election of President Joe Biden inspired searches including “how to be eligible for a stimulus check,” which was in general, a top-ranked search amongst “how to be more attractive,” “how to be happy alone,” “how to be a baddie,” and how to be a good boyfriend.”
Yet, in all the ways we looked up how to be the best versions of ourselves, we also couldn’t stop ourselves from digging down all the billions of internet black holes’ sadness, distress and despair while doom scrolling. According to Google, the term itself has been around since 2018 but in January 2021, doom scrolling was searched more than it had ever been before.
There’s a lot to observe and learn from what we search, what we choose to learn more about, what we choose to explore and what we choose to engage with. If there is one observation to make from thousands of them, it’s that no matter what is going on in the world, we appear to be in constant search for improvement, for stability, for equity and for advancement. After all, “affirmations” and “how to maintain mental health” had their all-time highest searches on a global scale in 2021.
We don’t know what the next year has in store for us, but given these trends from last year, it’s fair to say better times are ahead. From now until the end of the month, Google will continue to release each country’s “Year in Search” trends of 2021, which you can check out here and here.
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