zeitgeist
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Apple Music Replay highlights your favorite tunes of the year
Apple Music has been around for long enough that you can start reminiscing about years past, and Apple is banking on that nostalgia for its latest addition. It's debuting an Apple Music Replay feature that highlights your favorite tunes not just from the past year, but every year you've been a subscriber. It creates custom, shareable playlists for each year and tells you which artists, albums and songs dominated your ears. In my case, that's a whole lot of trance, jazz and ambient.
Twitter's 2018 was dominated by protests and K-pop
If you thought Twitter would settle down after the tumult of 2017, you might be in for a surprise. Twitter has posted its 2018 year in review, and there was an ample amount of passion both for superstars and social change. Korean pop dominated the landscape, with megagroup BTS (followed closely by Exo) earning some of the most liked and quoted tweets in addition to being the most-discussed celebrities and musicians. They even helped fuel one of the bigger memes of 2018, with one member taking up the "In My Feelings" challenge and dancing to Drake.
Google Trends redesign focuses on finding stories in the data
Remember Google Trends? The site that keeps you up to date on what the world has been searching for just got a makeover. According to the team, this redesign puts "more editorial data-based stories up front," along with a section featuring data stories picked out by a news team. You can easily check out the Year in Search dating back to 2001, while an intensity map can show where searches were popular by country or individual state. The easy-to-create topics and infographics are supposed to help news organizations sift through the available data, so don't be surprised if you see more stories based on trends.
Steam's 2016 top sellers include 'No Man's Sky' and 'Rocket League'
Want a (mostly) complete snapshot of the PC gaming scene as it was in 2016? Head over to Steam. Valve's portal has listed the top 100 best sellers of the year based on revenue, and it clearly reflects what people were buying. Indie titles had a particularly strong showing in 2016, most notably No Man's Sky -- yes, despite the backlash over its grandiose promises, the space exploration game raked in enough cash to be one of Steam's "platinum" sellers. While NMS' $50 price tag no doubt helped (it didn't have to move as many copies as its rivals to rake in money), it's apparent that the PC version wasn't the outright commercial flop some expected it to be.
Google's 2016 was defined by 'Pokémon Go,' Olympics and Trump
Google's Year in Search summaries have a knack for capturing the cultural zeitgeist, and that's truer than ever in 2016. The company has published its top search trends for the year, and it clearly mirrors a tumultuous 12 months defined by the unexpected, the tragic and the rise of technology. Notably, the biggest global search trend was for Pokémon Go -- yes, the wildly popular mobile game did more to captivate the world's attention than political upheaval or sports triumphs. Apple's iPhone 7 was the runner up, followed by President-elect Donald Trump.
Twitter's 2015 was defined by activism and its own tough luck
Twitter has posted its year in review, and it's clear that some things are truer than ever in the social sphere... including for Twitter itself. More often than not, the 2015 trends were a continuation of what you saw in 2014: activism dominated tweets even more than in the past thanks to the Black Lives Matter, LGBT equality and pro-refugee movements. Straight-up politics mattered as well given crucial elections in countries like Canada, India and the UK.
Facebook and Twitter say 2014 was about protests and the World Cup
The past year was a blur if you're a social networking maven, but don't worry -- both Facebook and Twitter are offering retrospectives that will help you remember how 2014 went down. Despite the differences between the two services, people on either were buzzing about many of the same things. Protests defined the year for many, whether it was about police violence in the US or the fight for democracy in Hong Kong. Sports played a big role, too, with the World Cup and the winter Olympics often dominating the conversation.
PS4 most-Googled tech gadget of 2013 in US
The PlayStation 4 was Google's most-searched-for item this year in the Tech Gadgets category in the US. The data is according to the Google's Zeitgeist, which rounds up and compiles the year's most popular searches. The Xbox One, meanwhile, didn't break the top 10 for the US. Worldwide, the PS4 comes in at number three in the Consumer Electronics category, while the Xbox One is right behind in the number four slot. Combine this information with the fact that both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sold 1 million units in 24 hours. Add in the NPD's report that the PS4 is the "top-selling" console while the Xbox One is the "fastest-selling." The result is one undeniable, unquestionable truth: People searched for, and bought, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. *Jazz hands!*
Google's 2013 Zeitgeist includes Mandela, iPhones and a 3D trend map (video)
Google is back again with its annual list of the most popular searches of the year -- only this time, with a 3D twist. In addition to old-fashioned 2D charts, the internet giant's 2013 Zeitgeist includes a trend globe that lets you see what major cities were looking for on any given day. Google+ also plays a large role, as you can share and browse the social network's most memorable public photos. Like in years past, 2013's top searches were a mixture of tech and tragedy. The deaths of Nelson Mandela and Paul Walker led the world's queries, but many also spent a lot of time looking for the iPhone 5s, Galaxy S 4 and PlayStation 4. Other notable searches ranged from serious matters like the Boston Marathon bombing to the silliness of the Harlem Shake. Want to see more? Hop past the break, where we have both the full top 10 list as well as Google's year-in-review video.
Google Zeitgeist tells the search story of 2012: Whitney, One Direction and iPads
Google's revealed its annual list of the year's top searches, with the death of Whitney Houston gleaning more requests than even the Gangnam Style juggernaut and site powering over 1.2 trillion searches. One Direction topped the most searched image category, while events like Hurricane Sandy and the Olympics made an impact both in the primary top ten and the people we searched for. The top searched-for gadgets saw a conspicuous absence of the iPhone 5, likely due to its launch in the second half of the year. The new iPad (well, iPad 3) claiming first place, followed by Samsung's Galaxy S III. We've included Google's obligatory uplifting video after the break, if you've already started to forget what happened this year. Top 10 Global Searches Whitney Houston Gangnam Style Hurricane Sandy iPad 3 Diablo 3 Kate Middleton Olympics 2012 Amanda Todd Michael Clarke Duncan BBB12
Google Zeitgeist reveals the UK's biggest search terms of 2012
As Brits look back on a year that included a Royal Wedding, the London Olympics and other things, what were they hammering into Google this year? A British Isles-centric Zeitgeist has revealed all the biggest search terms for the UK, one that's topped by Euro 2012, shortly followed by Olympic tickets. The royal bride was knocked to fourth place by Whitney Houston, while Gangnam Style searches rounded out the top 10. Bond's latest release grabbed the top place for trending movies, and PSY's shark-jumping global hit was (unsurprisingly) the top trending song. We've crammed all the curated top tens into the press release after the break -- and we're sure Google's checking its numbers on the US version as we speak. Trending Searches UK 2012 Euro 2012 Olympic tickets Whitney Houston Kate Middleton April Jones Netflix Natwest online ipad 3 Gary Barlow Gangnam Style
Google image search results crammed into picture dictionary
Though not quite a replacement for Mountain View's ill-fated dictionary, this 1,240 page tome contains the first Google image search result for each word in a run-of-the-mill dictionary. With a PHP script, London-based artists Felix Heyes and Ben West scraped the image from each search and compiled an alphabetically ordered PDF brimming with 21,000 images -- safesearch-disabled warts and all. "It's really an unfiltered, uncritical record of the state of human culture in 2012," West told Creative Applications Network. Alas, the volume isn't destined for mass distribution -- presumably to avoid copyright issues -- but the pair is considering sending a small batch of soft cover copies to print.
Google's Zeitgeist report for 2010: America loves the Bieb, already forgot about BP
Google recently released its annual Zeitgeist report of hot search terms for the year, and if you ask us, what people aren't searching for is just as interesting as what they are searching for. The climate is going topsy-turvy, oil sources have peaked (or are currently peaking), Afghanistan is a boondoggle, and the season finale of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret was one of the least satisfying in the history of sitcoms -- but what tops America's primary concerns? That's right: Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Chatroulette, and Apple's iPad. It almost makes us long for 2009, when Michael Jackson and the swine flu were all the rage. Almost.
Google adding 'social layer' to its services, doesn't call it Google Me yet
Eric Schmidt's been doing a bit of socializing at yesterday's Zeitgeist event and today we're hearing his tiny little web outfit is planning on adding new "social layers" to its core services this fall. Rather than attempting to conquer the social sphere with one flagship product, Google will start rolling out more social networking features in an effort to enhance and enrich its present offerings. This will be done by keeping up a steady flow of acquisitions, says Schmidt. Hey, it might not be the big gun we expected El Goog to bring to this fight, but then a Zerg rush of small additions might be just what the Facebook-hating doctor would recommend here.
Anti-Aliased: How the game of the decade haunts us
Yesterday I posted the interesting find that Gamasutra readers had voted in World of Warcraft as the game of the decade, which inevitably caused a huge spark of rage in the comments. Some readers lashed out against WoW while other readers defended the game's award. Needless to say, this is a very opinionated topic on our site. On Twitter, the choice was more clear cut. I asked my Twitter followers in a non-scientific Sera Survey (TM) if they believed that World of Warcraft deserved the game of the decade award. Of the 32 people who responded, all 32 said that they believed Warcraft deserved the honor. Some even went the extra step and said that while they personally didn't play anymore, they felt that the honor was well-deserved. When it comes to this subject, I'm completely torn in half. As a former raid leader and player of World of Warcraft during much of its five year existence, I too agree that the game is worthy of this very weighty title for a number of reasons. However, once I begin to pan backwards and look at the rest of the market, all I can see is how we as an industry may be haunted by the ghost of success. World of Warcraft changed this industry in many ways, and not all of them are worthy of laurels.
Google Zeitgeist 2009 shows year's top game searches
We would never call you out on your love for whatever crappy thing it is that you love but, guys, you're using Google wrong. Its recent Zeitgeist 2009 report shows what the most popular gaming term searches of this year have been and the results are pretty surprising.At the top spot is Ghostbusters, which is fine by us -- it was a pretty big deal when it was announced and it sold a lot of copies, so naturally folks were interested. But, as we delve deeper into the top 10, the search terms become a bit more interesting. The next three terms -- "ufc" "saw" and "bakugan" -- really threw us for a loop. Saw? Really? Bakugan? What is that, a gun that uses evil Japanese spirits for ammo? Actually, that sounds pretty cool.Further into the list, we see that Batman: Arkham Asylum managed to put a batarang in the fifth spot, much lower than we'd like, but we can live with that -- however, coming in at the sixth spot is Twilight. Guys! Vampires. Do. Not. Sparkle. Seventh was FIFA 2010, followed by Modern Warfare in eighth. The ninth spot belonged to Transformers 2, which we must admit has one of this year's best performances by a human male, so that seems okay. Finally, Resident Evil 5 rounded out the list in last place.
Mainstream WoW References
World of Warcraft was recently listed as one of the top gainers in Google's 2005 year-end zeitgeist, which means that awareness of the game is increasing, and not just with gamers. The people at Jeopardy have included the game in answers for the show, and the popular comic strip Foxtrot, recently referenced World of Warcraft in a strip.
