The conversations on social media provide daily assurance that not nearly enough people are utilizing Google on a daily basis. But when they do, users are heavily interested in three things: the lyrics to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP,” Tom Hanks, and “Elon Musk baby.”
To clarify: Google released the lists of the biggest U.S. trends of 2020 based on the largest spikes in various search terms. Some results need little explanation, like “election results” or “COVID testing near me.” Others provide a nice peek into some of the pop culture that dominated the quarantine. “WAP,” for instance, topped both the Definitions and the Lyrics searches. Surprisingly, the term “Animal Crossing” came in fifth in the Games trend. However, “Among Us,” another pandemic favorite and the chosen game of politician and Twitch fundraising champ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, topped the list with “Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout” immediately following. AOC was not the top searched politician, though (another surprise, considering how famous conservatives can’t seem to shut up about her). That honor went to Joe Biden.
When it came to reading up on those we lost this year, Kobe Bryant understandably trended the highest. On the opposite end, a great many folks were also more interested in Elon Musk and Grimes’ baby than any other famous tyke. (Take that, Baby Nut, you abomination.) While the list doesn’t pinpoint the specific moments of the year that these terms spiked, we can guess that the deluge of Tom Hanks inquiries has something to do with the public checking up on him while he was healing from the coronavirus. In film and television, Parasite and Tiger King ruled. The only surprise there is that both of those properties were hot topics this year. You can check out the rest of the big trends here, if you’re curious about which recipes, athletes, and COVID-related crafts made this year’s lists. (Thankfully, a lot of you are also Googling how to make masks.)