Top trends of 2017
To understand the direction the world was going in a particular year, Google analyses its traffic and comes up with top trends for so many different things. So Google recently released its “Year in Search” lists to tell us what internet-searchers were up to in 2017.
According to Google’s blog, “The top trending searches aren’t necessarily the most searched terms, they’re queries that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2017 as compared to 2016.”
This wide-ranging list includes many things, but we will only be sharing a few interesting ones here with you.
Top five trending video game searches
The top video games that came up in Google searches were a mix of some great entries into the gaming world, and some surprises too for even weaknesses and defects also make a game appear in searches on the web. Following are the top five most searched games on Google, but by no means the top five video games of 2017.
And we are not, in any way, recommending these games for kids as many factors make it appropriate for an older age group. Always play games recommended for your age. There are many aspects in these games that you will not understand and enjoy.
1 Call of Duty: WWII
Call of Duty: WWII was hitting double the sales of the previous game in the franchise just after launch.
2 Destiny 2
Bungie’s latest game was generally successful from a core game perspective, it was the game’s less than positive aspects that gave it a trending status. Destiny 2’s rigged XP system, its regular updates and intriguing mysteries were part of the reason why Destiny 2 has been one of the top trending games of the year.
3 For Honour
A mixture of hype and disappointment made For Honour a top trender in 2017.
Although it was one of the most intriguing games to be released, the title didn’t exactly meet expectations.
4 Injustice 2
Injustice 2 was a follow-up of the 1990s Injustice: Gods Among Us and an improved sequel in every way. Helping its popularity was the steady release of new characters and content in the months since release.
5 Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard throws players into a first person view. Something about this change inspired gamers, making the game one of the most searched on Google. But the horror elements in the game make it unsuitable for children, of course.
Top five trending movie searches
Movies are one of the most popular searches on Google. Interestingly, this year some of the movies that were expected to do well at the box office didn’t do so, however, the movies ranked below are nearly all successes, critically and commercially.
1 It
Based on a Stephen King novel, It was not just the top trending movie on Google, it was also the highest-grossing horror movie of all time. This R-rated film is about a killer clown named Pennywise terrorising children of a town. But, despite its popularity, we wouldn’t recommend it for our young readers.
2 Beauty and the Beast
Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast, the musical was a massive hit, surpassing Disney/Pixar’s own Finding Dory to become the highest-grossing PG film ever.
3 Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman was the highest grossing film this summer, the highest grossing film ever by a female director (Patty Jenkins), the highest grossing superhero origin film, and the most popular film of the DC Extended Universe.
Wonder Woman’s phenomenal success in her solo movie debut proves female superheroes are as popular as their male counterparts.
4 Get Out
A horror movie, Get Out another big hit of the year.
5 Justice League
Surprisingly, Justice League underperformed at the box office and left many fans and critics unimpressed. There were some redeeming features of this movie though, such as the return of Superman, that helped in giving true fans some satisfaction.
Interesting most-searched international trends
Terms
Hurricane Irma
iPhone 8
iPhone X
Matt Lauer
Meghan Markle
Global news
1 Hurricane Irma
2 Bitcoin
3 Las Vegas Shooting
4 North Korea
5 Solar eclipse
Actors
1 Meghan Markle
2 Kevin Spacey
3 Gal Gadot
4 Louis C.K.
5 Bill Skarsg
Musicians and bands
1 Ariana Grande
2 Linkin Park
3 Lady Gaga
4 Mariah Carey
5 Ed Sheeran
Songs/Lyrics
1 Despacito
2 Shape of You
3 Perfect
4 Havana
5 Look What You Made Me Do
Style trend
Most-searched beauty questions and phrases reflect our style obsession of the year. This year’s most-searched for beauty phrase was “beauty blender” and queries linked to eyelashes and eyebrows come up very frequently in searches too.
“Mink eyelashes” was at the number-two spot; “eyelash lift” was fourth and “feather eyebrows” had the ninth spot.
Styles and trends
Beautyblender
Mink lashes
Halloween makeup
Eyelash lift
Prom makeup
Nude makeup
Lip plumper
Skeleton makeup
Feather eyebrows
Lip gloss
How to ...
Everyone has been very curious about everything this year. According to Google, searches containing the word “how” shot up almost 10 times as compared to 2016! A lot of questions were put to the search engine and here are the tops five for you.
1 How to make slime
2 How to make solar eclipse glasses
3 How to buy Bitcoin
4 How to watch Mayweather vs McGregor
5 How to make a fidget spinner
Going by this list, what people learned the most this year was how to make slime!
The Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year
This year’s Word of the Year selected by The Oxford Dictionaries is “youthquake”. The website explained that winners are picked for their “lasting potential as a word of cultural significance.”
The word is defined as meaning, “a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.”
It represents the awakening of millennials striving for change during a turbulent 12 months across the world.
The word “youthquake” is not new. It was coined in 1965 by Vogue Editor Diana Vreeland, who used it to highlight changes young people drove in the fashion and music industries.
“Sometimes, our choice is serious, other times playful.” Each year, the winning word is expected to reflect the mood or ethos of the past 12 months.
Merriam-Webster’s* Words of the Year
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2017 is ‘feminism’. There was much happening around the world to make people interested in the word.
According to Merriam-Webster, the definitions of feminism are: “The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organised activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”
Here are the others in the list of the top five words looked up on Merriam-Webster in 2017.
Complicit: “Helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way.” It comes from the Latin word meaning “to fold together.”
Recuse: “To disqualify (oneself) as judge in a particular case” and “to remove (oneself) from participation to avoid a conflict of interest.” Recuse came to English from French and ultimately traces back to the Latin word recusare (meaning “to object to” or “to refuse”).
Empathy: “The ability to share another person’s feelings” and ultimately derives from the Greek word meaning “emotional.”
Dotard: “A person in his or her dotage” (dotage is “a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness”), and initially had the meaning “imbecile” when it began being used in the 14th century.
Published in Dawn, Young World, December 23rd, 2017