The Year 2023 in Review

Photo by Engin Akyurt (Pexels)

This is the time to recap the year that was. And what a year it was.

There are a number of ways to do it, many that are interesting. You can look at a year in terms of notable deaths, viral events, political rises and falls, etc.

But how do you really get a 12-month snapshot of a culture’s zeitgeist?

I would argue for two words: Google searches.

I’m not saying that this will be what historians will mark in 10, much less 100 years… even less what is most significant. But I will say that it may be the clearest window into our current soul.

So here we go with a few peeks into our inner world in 2023, courtesy of Google itself.

Top 10 News Story Searches:

  1. War in Israel and Gaza

  2. Titanic submarine

  3. Hurricane Hilary

  4. Hurricane Idalia

  5. Hurricane Lee

  6. Maine shooting

  7. Nashville shooting

  8. Maui fire

  9. Idaho murder trial

  10. Canada wildfires

Top 10 “How often…” Searches:

  1. How often do you think about the Roman Empire?

  2. How often is the World Baseball Classic?

  3. How often is a blue moon?

  4. How often is the World Cup?

  5. How often do trains derail?

  6. How often is Friday the 13th in October?

  7. How often should you get a COVID booster?

  8. How often is the State of the Union?

  9. How often does California get hurricanes?

  10. How often is Punxsutawney Phil correct?

Top 10 “Explained” Searches:

  1. The Menu explained

  2. No One Will Save You explained

  3. Silo explained

  4. Reptile explained

  5. Israel-Palestine conflict explained

  6. Beef explained

  7. White Noise explained

  8. Loki ending explained

  9. NBA In-Season Tournament explained

  10. Title 42 explained

And finally, the Top 10 People Searches:  

  1. Damar Hamlin

  2. Jeremy Renner

  3. Travis Kelce

  4. Tucker Carlson

  5. Lil Tay

  6. Andrew Tate

  7. Carlee Russell

  8. Jamie Foxx

  9. Danny Masterson

  10. Matt Rife

Welcome to our world.

James Emery White

 

Sources

See the “Year in Search 2023” for the United States, Google, read online.

James Emery White