Upworthy's book GOOD PEOPLE, now available - take a look!

Shop
 Explore 

2022

Pop Culture

What Google's 2022 'trending topics' tell us about ourselves and what we care about

Google's Year in Search is like a modern-day time capsule.

Firmbee/Canva

Google's 2022 Year in Search report shows what trended this year.

There's a lot you can tell about a person by their search history (unless they're a murder-mystery writer, in which case no one should jump to conclusions). And our search habits on the whole can tell us a lot about ourselves as a collective as well.

For better or for worse, what we look up on the internet is an indicator of what we care about, and Google's Year in Search report gives us some insight into what we cared about this past year.

There are reports for different countries as well as a global report. Let's start with what my fellow Americans looked up, shall we?

To be clear, these search terms were not the "top searches" or "most searched terms" on Google, but rather the top trending searches—the search terms that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period of time as compared to the year before.

The top 10 trending searches for 2022 overall:

Wordle
Election results
Betty White
Queen Elizabeth
Bob Saget
Ukraine
Mega Millions
Powerball numbers
Anne Heche
Jeffrey Dahmer

Wow, right? Some of these things don't seem right. I know pandemic time is weird, but Wordle was a 2022 phenomenon? (Am I the only one who would have sworn that happened way earlier in the pandemic? I guess when you play a game every day it makes it seem like a lot more time has passed.) And Betty White? (To be fair, she passed away on the very last day of 2021, so all of the tributes and whatnot happened in 2022.)

Queen Elizabeth, of course. Ukraine, ugh, yes. The fact that Jeffrey Dahmer is on here is both a testament to the power of Netflix and a disturbing insight into people's morbid curiosity.

Anne Heche, tragic. Bob Saget, sad. Election results totally depends on your perspective, but glad to see people caring about the democratic process.

The Year in Search categories are telling as well.

For people, we had:

Johnny Depp
Will Smith
Amber Heard
Antonio Brown
Kari Lake
Anna Sorokin (Delvey)
Chris Rock
Andrew Tate
Adam Levine
Serena Williams

I just don't think there's even a need to comment about most of these. Yikes.

Movies are fun though!

"Encanto"
"Thor: Love and Thunder"
"Top Gun: Maverick"
"The Batman"
"Everything Everywhere All at Once"
"Black Adam"
"Jurassic World Dominion"
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
"Morbius"
"Turning Red"

Aw, remember the "Turning Red" controversies, the "Encanto" obsessions and "Top Gun: Maverick" being surprisingly amazing?

And oof, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." What a beautifully done film.

Musicians and bands is an interesting mix:

Adam Levine
Mary J. Blige
Lil Tjay
Kendrick Lamar
Migos
Tommy Lee
Kate Bush
Ricky Martin
Young Thug
Foo Fighters

Eclectic, no? Some of these I can connect to specific things that happened this year, like Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" going viral from its appearance in "Stranger Things" and Foo Fighters from drummer Taylor Hawkins' death, but some are a mystery to me. Maybe I don't want to know.

Let's move away from entertainment and head to food.

media.giphy.com

Here are the top recipe trends in the U.S. for 2022:

Sugo
Cincinnati chili
Marry me chicken
Quick pancake
Mango pie
Green goddess salad
Jennifer Aniston salad
Grinder sandwich
Bella Hadid sandwich
The Bear spaghetti

Marry me chicken? I might have to Google that myself. (Don't tell anyone, but I'm also going to Google "sugo" because I'm embarrassed to admit I have no idea what that is.)

Speaking of Googling things you don't know—want to see what definition searches trended in 2022?

Rupee
Oligarch
Cacao
Homer
Recession
Canny
Foray
Trove
Saute
Tacit

So curious about what prompted most of these trends.

All of the above can be found on the published Year in Search lists, but Google also sent us some trends that didn't make it into the list, such as:

Is it true that …

Is it true that TikTok is posting drafts?
Is it true that the pinky is the middle finger in China?
Is it true that Putin has cancer?
Is it true that coffee stunts your growth?
Is it true that cats have nine lives?
Is it true that Fortnite is ending?
Is it true that Queen Elizabeth died?
Is it true that Chuck Norris died?
Is it true that if you dream about someone they went to sleep thinking about you?
Is it true that Yahoo is shutting down?

What is …

What is NATO?
What is monkeypox?
What is rsv?
What is Wordle?
What is aphasia?
What is a NFT?
What is a recession?
What is vabbing?
What is Roe v. Wade?
What is the Wordle today?

How to be …

How to be a good mother?
How to be a better lover?
How to be perfect?
How to be an adult in relationships?
How to be a verified fan on Ticketmaster?
How to be a nun in BitLife?
How to be emo?
How to be that girl?
How to be enough for someone?
How to be a fashion designer in BitLife?

OK, wait. I am perpetually online and I have three teen/young adult kids. How have I never heard of BitLife when it's in two of these "How to be" trending searches?

I kind of love "How to be an adult in relationships?" Kudos to those trying.

Interestingly, many of the global trends were similar to the U.S. searches, showing how interconnected we all are. However, the global recipes trends are very different:

1. पनीर पसंदा (paneer pasanda)
2. Bolo caseiro (homemade cake)
3. Tuzlu kurabiye (salt cookie)
4. Overnight oats
5. zimtschnecken (cinnamon rolls)
6. Irmik helvası (semolina halva)
7. панкейки (pancakes)
8. Baba ganoush
9. Bulgur pilavı (bulgur rice)
10. Pasta salad

How fun is that?

It's been quite a year and it's good to take a moment to remember and reflect on all that's happened in 2022. There were a lot of big things—the war in Ukraine, the passing of Queen Elizabeth and Betty White, our collective obsession with Wordle, and more. It's also telling what's not in these trends—notably, most references to the COVID-19 pandemic (which we are still in, despite most people being over it at this point).

Kind of makes you wonder what trending searches 2023 will bring, doesn't it? Let's make "street tacos" and "world peace" happen, please.

From Your Site Articles

google

Wellness

An expert shares how to reclaim hope. Yes, even after these past two years.

Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash

We all need some hope and inspiration.

As 2022 approaches, some of us might be remiss in even thinking about new goals for ourselves. Especially after a soured “2020 vision” and a 2021 that came and went in the blink of an eye. Not to mention the new hard look at hustle culture, the collective burnout otherwise known as The Great Resignation … oh, and a seemingly never-ending pandemic.

So yeah, it’s perfectly reasonable that the once hopeful promise of a New Year’s resolution might have lost its shine.

Still, researcher and author Dr. Shane Lopez discusses why holding onto hope remains a crucial skill. And a learnable one as well.

Resolutions might change to reflect different values—perhaps a resolution to find meaningful work versus working harder, for example—but regardless, this take might offer some fresh insight and reinstill some long-lost vigor. At the very least, it might make hope seem a little less delusional.

In his 2013 interview with the University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality and Healing and the Life Science Foundation, Dr. Lopez defines hope as “the belief that the future will be better than the present, coupled with the belief that you have the power to make it so.”

He clarifies that where simple optimism or wishful thinking contains only the first belief (a better future), hope has the added aspect of the belief in one’s own agency in the matter.

It’s almost like saying optimism says that a problem can be solved. Hope actively says, “I have the ability to solve this problem.”

Interview with Dr. Shane Lopez

This is in part why hope is the foundation of proper goal-setting. As we set down applicable plans, we strengthen our own agency, thus becoming happier and more productive.

According to Dr. Lopez, “a hopeful student can achieve a letter grade higher that a less hopeful one of equal intellect.”

In many ways, hope and resilience go hand in hand.

Dr. Lopez shares how hopeful people have an innate ability to bounce back after obstacles.

"An obstacle to a hopeful person is an expected challenge,” he says, adding, “then they immediately come up with new and different plans to get around that obstacle.”

Again, hope is a productive state, not a passive one.

Dr. Lopez states that hopeful people are also not shy about reaching out for support or help, to reassess or even reform goals when necessary. His interview indicates that hope is a key trait of problem solvers, not Pollyannas.

How to instill some hope into 2022

Going off of Dr. Lopez’s suggestions, here are ways to become more hopeful (and therefore more happy, productive and resilient, to boot)

Figure out what you’re truly excited about.

We spend a lot of time doing things that we’re not excited about, so when you can find something that does set off a spark, “you’ll receive a flurry of these hopeful thoughts,” says Dr. Lopez. And that enthusiasm in one area can leach into other areas of life as well.

Often, these are the things that give us the most meaning and purpose. Invest heavily in them.

That excitement might not make itself visible right away. And that’s OK. If that’s the case, try following your curiosity instead (Medium has a fantastic article about this). The point is, it has to be something that takes up more real estate than just your head.

Pursue two to three meaningful goals. Not 10-20.

Dr. Lopez shares that many people make this mistake when trying to create change in their life and thus try to pile more on top of an already full, chaotic life. The key ingredients to an achievable goal are specificity, clarity and additive to your life (meaning that it adds something of benefit, rather than taking something away).

I’ve become something of a James Clear brand ambassador these days. He really has the market cornered on achievable goal setting. If you’re not ready to try out his book “Atomic Habits,” he has a lot of great tidbit-sized insight on his Instagram.

Learn by example.

Find the most hopeful person in your life and spend time with them. Dr. Lopez suggests surrounding yourself with these kinds of people will teach you how to come up with multiple plans, overcome setbacks and sustain your energy to avoid burnout. In short, they’ll show you firsthand how it’s done and that it's possible.

I would add that in this day and age, there’s no shortage of hopeful podcasts, audiobooks—maybe even this website you’re reading from right now—that could help support you.

Whether you decide to make that 2022 vision board or simply want to feel better next year, hope might be the first step.

From Your Site Articles

2022

What Google's 2022 'trending topics' tell us about ourselves and what we care about

Google's Year in Search is like a modern-day time capsule.

An expert shares how to reclaim hope. Yes, even after these past two years.

Interview with Dr. Shane Lopez

How to instill some hope into 2022

A toddler kept tapping a woman's arm on a plane. Her response holds a lesson for us all.

Mom shares how her first grader's homework on the second day of school broke his spirit

'Made me smile': Jimmy Carter’s quote about homosexuality and the Bible resurfaces

28-year-old buys cruise ship apartment because it's less than renting and he can see the world

Dog owner dressed up as dog's favorite toy and his reaction was seriously adorable

Her husband said being a mom was 'easy'. She spent 24 hours in a hotel and let him try it himself.