Ring in the New Year by taking a step back and reviewing what has come to pass over the past year. It’s about appreciating the good times and mourning loss. It’s about evaluating missteps, learning from mistakes, and broadening the brighter road ahead. Search giant Google and social networks Twitter and Facebook are here to provide retrospective, analytical, and all-encompassing telescopes looking back at the year 2015; let the good, the bad, and everything in-between comes into focus.
Posted above is Google’s Year in Search video and it brings to life the queries we searched and the questions and answers they brought forth. The Paris attacks, Star Wars, water on Mars, Cecil the Lion; all of the major crises and celebrations are accounted for in this clip and beyond. Google’s A Year in Search portal is an interactive way to explore what went down in 2015 around the world. There’s even a Top Charts section that breaks down the top searches across a wide range of categories. The top 10 U.S. searches in 2015? Lamar Odom, Jurassic World, American Sniper, Caitlyn Jenner, Ronda Rousey, Paris, Agar.io, Chris Kyle, Fallout 4, and Straight Outta Compton. In chaotic times, we sure do enjoy our entertainment, don’t we?
Jump after the break to see what Twitter and Facebook have to offer.
Head over to Twitter’s #YearOnTwitter portal where you’ll find 2015 broken down into sections like Most Influential, New Voices, Most Retweeted, and Top Trends. Some of the most popular hashtags of the year were Pray for Paris, JeSuis Charlie, Black Lives Matter, Love Wins, FIFA WWC, and Pluto Flyby. Members of pop band One Direction topped the list of most retweeted tweets. Other top trends include Kids Choice Awards, Bieber Roast, iPad, Periscope, and of course, the laughing-with-tears emoji.
Facebook’s theme this year is the human connection. From the Paris attacks and refugee crisis to marriage, gender, and race equality, 2015 truly was all about standing together and standing up for what is right. And by doing so we all came together, hand in hand, to push the world in a better direction. Facebook shares the most-discussed topics of 2015: US Presidential Election, November 13 Attacks in Paris, Syrian Civil War and Refugee Crisis, Nepal Earthquakes, Greek Debt Crisis, Marriage Equality, Fight Against ISIS, Charlie Hebdo Attack, Baltimore Protests, and Charleston Shooting and Flag Debate. The video posted above highlights these topics, and you can venture over to Facebook’s Year in Review portal to see more detailed breakdowns for every one. And as always, you can click here to view your personal Year in Review page highlighting the most popular posts featured on your wall in 2015.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!