While this is the time for plenty of 鈥測ear end reviews鈥 here is one directly from the people via Google Trends 鈥 part of the creepy tech universe, along with Facebook, dating apps and various cookie-collecting websites, that knows us better than we know ourselves, perhaps even better than the U.S., Russian and Chinese intelligence services know us.
Now remember, that this is anyone who ran searches on Google that Google can identify as having their search emanate from a person located in Honolulu. This includes lots of tourists, military members, children old enough to spell and people who don鈥檛 search Google using English language queries.
Googe Trends tracked the 鈥渞ising鈥 searches for 2017.聽These denote trends out of the usual searches and tend to be more insightful than the 鈥渢op鈥 searches for the year. The rising searches are what differentiates 2017 from all prior years.
It鈥檚 a lot of data, and these are just some observations and interpretations on the data.
Primarily people are asking for information for things that they don鈥檛 know about, but not necessarily. Feel free to browse Google Trends yourself. It鈥檚 open data.
Health
In a state that鈥檚 generally rated with good physical health and longevity of life, queries related to rat lungworm and mumps make up six of the top 10 slots for rising search queries for 2017. Under 鈥淢en鈥檚 Health鈥 the 聽rising search query is 鈥渇rigid鈥 and 鈥減orn induced erectile dysfunction.鈥
Hmm, are men looking up men鈥檚 health topics or are women?
The top ranked rising search query under 鈥淲omen鈥檚 Health鈥 is 鈥淛UUL pods.鈥 Women/children who are trying to vape but need to plug into a USB port, maybe? And need it to look like a thumb drive or Sharpie to sneak into school, maybe? Apparently mango is the top-selling flavor (hint, hint, Department of Health).
Men definitely didn鈥檛 google the second-ranked query: 鈥渆ctopic pregnancy.鈥澛燚unno where that came from.聽Call UH to do a study on that one.
Then there鈥檚 the paradox of what people are looking to eat. The top-ranked rising search query in the 鈥淔ood and Drink鈥 category is “Cheesecake Factory Kapolei鈥 鈥 with 鈥渦nicorn frappuccino鈥 coming in at No. 3. Dunkin鈥 Donuts-related search queries were also in the top 10.
However, if you look under 鈥淏eauty and Fitness鈥 searches you鈥檒l find the rising search subjects in that category are 鈥淔ifty Shades Darker-Film鈥 and 鈥淢iss Universe Pageant-Topic鈥 鈥 in that order. Chew on all that for a while.
On the subject of mental health, Google listed its No. 1 rising mental health search query for Honolulu as 鈥渉istrionic personality disorder.鈥
Oddly, 鈥渄ouglas chin鈥 is the fourth most queried in the category of mental health. That one may forever remain a mystery to all but the Google Analytics team. Perhaps people are worried about the stress of the cases on the attorney general … who knows.
Primarily people are asking for information for things that they don鈥檛 know about, but not necessarily.
But I do also sense some anxiety among the populace as well. This is noticeable when you skip over to the top-rising News queries of 2017, because four of the Top 10 are North Korea-related. That and 鈥渟pectrum hawaii,鈥 which means our new cable company is causing people to do a lot of Web searching. Calling customer service?
And 鈥淏itcoin鈥 is a top-ranked rising search topic in the News category. Lots of people trading Bitcoin to try and make ends meet for the New Year?
Gambling is alive and well in Hawaii thanks to Bitcoin and online stock trading. Lay off the fighting cocks and fire up the laptops people!
You can make yourself poorer at any hour of day and night from the comfort of your own home, and it鈥檚 perfectly legal! That鈥檚 my public service announcement for the new year.
Fun?
On a lighter note, what about entertainment? What鈥檚 the rising search query in the category of “Movies”? (Drum roll.) And the envelope, please … the winner is 鈥 to no one鈥檚 surprise: 鈥淛edi鈥-related searches currently take up the top three positions.
The top-rising 鈥淏ook and Literature鈥 search query?
鈥淒zuma dzuma,鈥 which appears to be available via an app. Dzuma is a Polish word for 鈥減lague.鈥澛營t stars some baby with a nose bleed. Seems dark and disturbing, but to each their own I guess.
Also deviant, yet lighter and more mainstream, 鈥淐aptain Underpants-Novel Series鈥 is one of the top-rising search topic queries in the 鈥淏ooks and Literature鈥 category. It鈥檚 a story of some fourth-graders who prank 鈥渃ruel teachers鈥 and their 鈥渆vil principal.鈥澛營t is childish humor that has since been made into a movie by DreamWorks.
Clearly, our student-teacher relations are not all they could be for this to gain this level of interest.
鈥淭he Dark Tower-2017 Film鈥 currently finishes just in front of 鈥淐aptain Underpants-Novel Series鈥 in the same category.聽It鈥檚 a Stephen King book that has been made into a movie as well.
It鈥檚 fairly 鈥渄ark鈥 too. It鈥檚 a science fantasy Western about someone who wants to destroy the universe and has a tortured hero to stop him.聽Lots of violence and vengeance.聽I guess it wasn鈥檛 all sunshine and happiness in 2017, if our Googlers are any indication.
Speaking of violence, four of the top five rising 鈥淪ports鈥 search queries in 2017 are all Mayweather-McGregor fight-related.聽Thank goodness for all the Angelenos and Texans googling in Honolulu who sent the 鈥淲orld Series 2017鈥 to the top of the list.
Well, I could go on forever since there is so much data, but this at least gives a little insight into the minds of people in Honolulu in 2017. Since the 鈥淒ark Side鈥 is apparently advancing, I will try not to draw polite, yet subtle, disdain from the editors for exceeding my word count.
Lastly, everyone needs to try extra hard to be nice to everyone in 2018, 鈥檏ay?
And for your New Year鈥檚 resolution, go get that mental health checkup you鈥檝e always wanted while you still have health insurance.
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