Image from Pixabay COVID-19 epidemic is affecting our life as nothing else could. The traffic on the road is still, and our life has become restricted within our houses. We are now realizing how little we really need in life, and what matters most. The Coronavirus has taken over our thoughts and changed our priorities. And the online search trends prove it.
Yahoo India's report about the previous one month's search trend shows Indians' preoccupation with Coronavirus, our anger at lockdown offenders, and our sudden change in entertainment choices.
Top searches before COVID-19 spread in India:
As per Yahoo, before the lockdown was announced in India, top search keywords in India were 'Delhi election results,' 'Delhi riots / Delhi violence', and 'JNU violence'. The top searched keywords (people) included (US President) 'Donald Trump', (Delhi CM) 'Arvind Kejriwal', and (politician) 'Jyotiraditya Scindia'.
Rise of Coronavirus:
However, since the lockdown began in India, Novel Coronavirus related searches rose by 427%. The top 5 COVID-19 keywords were 'COVID-19 updates', 'Symptoms of COVID-19', 'COVID-19 treatment', 'COVID-19 death toll', and 'Live COVID-19 tracker.' Other popular searches related to Novel Coronavirus included 'Lockdown in India,' 'Vaccine for coronavirus,' 'Social distancing,' and Hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus.
A sample of top questions Indians asked online during the lockdown:- What is COVID-19?
- How long does coronavirus live on surfaces?
- How to make a mask at home?
- Is there any vaccine for Coronavirus?
- Is there a cure for Coronavirus?
- Does Coronavirus spread through air?
- What happens to Coronavirus patients in quarantine?
- What is the treatment for Coronavirus?
- What is the difference between n95 and n99 pollution mask?
- How does Coronavirus spread?
- How to prevent Coronavirus?
- How many people (have) died from coronavirus?
- How many children have got COVID-19?
- How to contribute to PM's corona fund?
Searches for Work From Home solutions:
As offices shifted to homes, people desperately searched for productivity solutions to help them work from home.
Before the lockdown, people searched for 'WhatsApp web' and 'YouTube.' When lockdown began, people searched more for productivity and team communication solutions to work or study from home. The Top 5 Most Searched Tools for Team Communication were:
Most searched female celebrity:
Before lockdown, Priyanka Chopra was the most searched female celebrity in India. Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone held the number 2 and 3 spot, respectively.
But then singer Kanika Kapoor broke the social distancing restrictions. She attended three social gatherings in Lucknow after returning from London and despite being instructed by the authorities to self-isolate. When she tested positive for COVID-19, curiosity about her shot her to the top spot of most searched female celebrity list. In fact, she became the Most Searched Celebrity among both male and female celebs!
Most searched male celebrities:
Before the lockdown began, Rajinikanth (after Darbar), Salman Khan and Aamir Khan were top 3 in the Most Searched Male Celebrity category. Once the lockdown began and the stars responded to the epidemic and urged their fans to take precautions, the search trends shifted. Amitabh Bachchan rose to the top spot, followed by Rajinikanth, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Tiger Shroff.
During the lockdown, celebrities' public service messages, their philanthropy, commitment to support COVID-19 causes and awareness, etc. did not go unnoticed by the public.
Top Entertainment Searches:
The most surprising shift in search trends was seen in the entertainment section. Before lockdown, Indians' top entertainment searches were for Big Boss, Drive, Tanhaji, Housefull 4, and Good Newwz. But the re-telecast of Ramayan on Doordarshan changed it. This classic TV show broke through overnight and became the top entertainment search. Surprising everybody, it was watched and appreciated even by youngsters and gave rise to several Twitter trends as well.
The pandemic movie Contagion also attracted much curiosity and became one of the top 5 entertainment searches in India. However, Good Newwz, Tanhaji, and Big Boss continued to be among the top 5 entertainment searches as well.
Other:
As the lockdown began in India, searches for OTT services rose by 59% in India. The most searched streaming services were Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hotstar, Voot, and Zee5.
Another interesting trend was the rise in the search for recipes! Well, if you look at the flood of #FoodPosts on Facebook and Instagram these days, it is nothing surprising. Almost everybody seems to be busy developing and showing off their culinary skills these days.
But guess which was the most searched recipe?The number 1 in Top Recipe Searches post lockdown goes to the Dalgona Coffee. As it went viral on social media, the recipe for frothy caffeine cup started trending all over the world, including in India. Other top recipe searches in India included cake, paneer and chicken recipes. Difficulty in getting bread also led to the trending of breakfast recipes after the lockdown was announced in India.
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