Insights: Top Favorite Trends of 2020

Highlights

• COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and Social Distancing are the most search trends for 2020.
• Donald Trump (41%) beats Joe Biden (18%) as the ‘most discussed person’ in 2020.
• Female-led shows such as “The Assistant” and “Queen’s Gambit” tops as favorite drama series this 2020.

2020 is one of the significant years in the timeline. Big events occurred in 2020 —  from an unprecedented global pandemic, a surge in digital transformation, as well as the US presidential elections. This year introduced inevitable changes that forced societies around the world to adapt.

As another eventful year will soon come to an end, we look back at 2020 highlights. Aside from all the serious news, we take notice of the things that caught the world’s attention. Based on search trends, Real Research created pop-culture polls to determine the majority’s favorite including the best buzzwords, best artists, and trending topics that surfaced this year.

Most Favorite Trending Term on Search Engines: COVID19

Search engines gather a lot of insights so well. With integrated analytics, search engines can provide adequate data that can reveal what people are searching for. As the go-to place for the curious, search engines are able to record and understand various people’s interests based on the keywords they use on their searches.

Based on the polls, the terms ‘Coronavirus’ and ‘COVID19’ reign as the top keywords among the high-traffic searches worldwide. In a poll that asks for the favorite keyword in 2020, COVID19 got more than half of the sampling population’s votes (59%).

‘Black Lives Matter’ is an online hashtag that became viral. It embodies a decentralized political and social movement online that advocates for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality specifically against black people. The movement also gained popularity among the respondents earning 17% of the votes. ‘Social Distancing,’ a new popular term that only surfaced this 2020 closely followed at 16%.

In ranking the most popular search in our own poll, we asked the respondents to select their most-searched keyword from a given set of popular keywords. Almost half chose ‘Coronavirus’ (44%) as a keyword they frequently searched for. Coronavirus Vaccine (23%), a related keyword, ranks second.

During the high-time of the American presidential candidacy, political polls were widespread. Hence, the US Elections results (13%) became the most-searched topic after the pandemic-related searches. There were respondents who were also alarmed and curious about the explosion that happened in Beirut, Lebanon. The curiosity raised the search for ‘Beirut Explosion’, garnering 5.5% points for the most frequently searched topic.

Donald Trump Is the Most Prominent Person for 2020

Some names became the talk of the cyber world this year. Donald Trump tops the list as the most-discussed person worldwide in 2020. Despite losing the US Presidential election, for this Real Research survey poll, Trump won over Joe Biden with 41% versus 18%.

Next, George Floyd, an African-American who died in police custody, made it to the spotlight of most-discussed personalities this 2020. Additionally, his story ignited the viral hashtag #BlackLivesMatter worldwide. Thereby, after the American candidates, he ranks third with 12% of the votes.

Furthermore, another personality whose death became huge news is Kobe Bryant. His accidental death was grieved by his fans and many basketball enthusiasts all over the world. 10% recognized him as the most-talked-about name in 2020. Finally, the world-renowned K-pop idol group BTS takes the fifth spot with 7% of the votes.

The Best in the Entertainment Industry: Strong Females Takes the Spotlight

When all were confined within the walls of their homes, home entertainment became people’s main source of leisure and entertainment. Hence, in a poll that gathers Oscar-nominated films, we asked the public to select which of the nominees they think will win Best Film of 2020.

According to the results, “The Father” deserves the Best Film Oscar award (19%). Next, “Nomadland” (18%) takes the second lead in the poll. Succeedingly, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (15%), Palm Springs (14%), and Minari (9%) belong to the top 5 favorite films having the chance to win an Oscar.

As for the TV series or Drama series category, female-led shows top the list this 2020. The “Flight Attendant” garners almost a quarter of the votes (23%), followed by another female-dominated series “Queen’s Gambit” (17%).  Both series embrace strong and difficult women characters embodied by Cassie and Beth who don’t act as damsels who need any male heroes for saving.

Despite that, the female-dominated series was not a choice for females. Based on demographics, more men than women answered the survey. In other words, this shows the appeal of strong female character personas as preference. Likewise. other series that made it next on the list are “Ratched” (13%), “The Witcher” (12%), and “The Wilds” (11%).

Best Leading Performances

For the ‘Best Actor’ Oscar award, nominated actor Anthony Hopkins for “The Father” got the majority of the votes (20%). Chadwick Bose, taking the role of trumpeter Levee for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (19%), and Delroy Lindo playing a Vietnam war veteran for “Da 5 Bloods” were among the top 3 favorite actors.

In contrast, the ‘Best Actress’ Oscar nominees, Julia Garner, playing the main role for the show “The Assistant,” takes the top bet to win the award with almost a quarter of the votes (23%). However, Vanessa Kirby’s performance for “Pieces of a Woman” gets second place (17%). Frances McDormand playing a homeless woman seeking a job in “Nomadland” (15%) closely follows at third.

Most Anticipated Launch in 2020: iPhone 12 Series

Smartphone fanatics can’t get enough of the latest handsets in the market. Therefore, based on a poll that focuses on the top consumer technology products, Apple’s iPhone 12 and Samsung Galaxy S20 smartphones are the top electronic products of the year; with iPhone 12 (31%) ahead of Galaxy S20 (24%).

Following the top smartphone brands, game consoles are up next. Above all, Sony PlayStation 5, a gamer’s most-awaited holiday present, gets almost a quarter of the votes (20%) doubling the number of Xbox Series S and Series X (9%) as its competitor brand.

Additionally, other electronic products that made the list are Apple Macbook Air M1 (5%), Samsung Galaxy Buds Live (4%), and Bose Quiet Comfort Earbuds (2%). Lastly. many others (4%) revealed that they were fond of other newly-released products not included on the list.