By Eric Akasa
Google has announced
its annual Zeitgeist, a look at 2012 through the collective eyes of the world
on the web, offering a unique perspective on the year's major events and
hottest trends based on Google searches conducted in Kenya. The results gave an
interesting perspective on what the trending searches were, who the
most-searched personalities were, as well as which new technologies captured
Kenya’s imagination.
Leading the list for overall trending Kenyan searches
in 2012 was the Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission (IEBC), as the
country prepares itself for the first election under its new constitution.
Wrapping up the top 5 list were the social media site Facebook, the late
American singing legend Whitney Houston who passed on in February, mobile video
search engine Tubidy and Euro 2012.
Kenyans also went online to find get more information
about famous personalities making the news, with politicians dominating the
most searched for local personalities. They included the late veteran
politicians Njenga Karume, George Saitoti and John Michuki who created legacies
through their public service, Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s former adviser
Miguna Miguna, aspiring presidential candidate Peter Kenneth. Renowned media personality
Louis Otieno as well as musician Prezzo who participated in the BBA Stargame
was also among the local personalities most searched for on Google, with
Olympics star David Rudisha and former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza
rounding off the list.
When it came to the arts, Kenya’s online trends
revealed that art transcends boundaries. Whitney Houston topped the list, with
James Ingram, Eddie Murphy, Bobby Brown, Gangnam, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bobbi
Kristina, and Morgan Freeman featuring as top trending artists. Local artists,
Prezzo and Camp Mulla held their ground and also made it to the list of top
searched artists.
Sporting personalities also generated a lot of Google
searches, with the popular Premier league and the Olympics driving a lot of
this interest. The top ten sports personalities included Robin Van Persie,
David Rudisha, Mario Balotelli, Victor Wanyama, Ronaldinho, Conjestina Achieng,
Michael Phelps, Ezekiel Kemboi, Podolski, and Lance Armstrong.
The “What is” query was dominated by ethnicity and
illnesses such as cancer, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, typhoid, malaria, and stress. The
Kenyans love for Spanish telenovelas was revealed in the Entertainment searches
with Eva Luna, Triumph of Love leading while BBA Stargame, Shuga and KulaHappy
gained more popularity in Kenya.
The global Google Zeitgeist website will be launched today,
and will host all 838 top-ten lists from 55 countries. Visitors will be able to
compare terms through interactive data visualization, check out global search
trends, and watch the annual Zeitgeist video on the page http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment