SA goes crazy for Zef, Bieber and Malema: Google Zeitgeist

Pop sensations, both local and international, dominated South Africa’s Google search in 2010. From Justin Bieber to Locnville, Jack Parow to Nicki Manaj, local search was dominated by local entertainment icons who managed to squeeze controversial politician Julius Malema and the locally-hosted Soccer World Cup out of the top spots.

Every year, Google measures which search topics rocket and which plummet in order to get a sense of the “zeitgeist,” or spirit, of each year. “Doing fast-rising search terms allows us to see what is truly unique about 2010,” Google spokesperson Anne Espiritu said. “Think of fastest rising as the shooting stars in terms of popularity.”

People: Zef, Jack Parow, Julius Malema

Despite being the year of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, the soccer spectacle was outranked in Google’s fastest rising searches by teen pop sensations and controversial politicans.

Afrikaans ‘zef’ rapper, Jack Parow, came in at number three. Music is clearly more important than politics as Parrow is placed ahead of ANC Youth League leader, Julius Malema, who claims the number five spot.

Reality TV queen, Kim Kardashian and controversial rap artist, Eminem, are placed seventh and ninth respectively.

Fastest rising people searches: South Africa 2010

1. Justin Bieber
2. Nicki Minaj
3. Jack Parow
4. Drake
5. Julius Malema
6. Shakira
7. Kim Kardashian
8. Cristiano Ronaldo
9. Eminem
10. Lil’ Wayne

Politics: Julius Malema, Nelson Mandela and President Zuma

Politically, the year in search belonged to Julius Malema. He featured on the list of fastest rising politician searches at pole position, followed by perennial favourites, Nelson Mandela and President Zuma. Although he’s been keeping a fairly low profile, former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, comes in at number four followed by Western Cape Premier and DA (Democratic Alliance) leader, Helen Zille. Patricia de Lille, whose party (the Independent Democrats, ID) merged with the DA this year, is placed seventh on the list. She is outranked by Fikile Mbalula, the recently appointed Minister of Sports and Recreation, who fills the number six spot.

Fastest rising politician searches: South Africa 2010

1. Julius Malema
2. Nelson Mandela
3. Jacob Zuma
4. Thabo Mbeki
5. Helen Zille
6. Fikile Mbalula
7. Patricia de Lille
8. Siyabonga Cwele
9. Nathi Mthethwa
10. Siphiwe Nyanda

News: Haiti, Bafana and Julius Malema (again)

The devastating earthquake in Haiti dominated world headlines earlier this year, as well as internet news searches. ‘Haiti’ tops the list of fastest rising news searches for 2010, followed by another appearance by Julius Malema, ‘earthquake’, Bafana and Nelson Mandela. Sport still resonates strongly with South Africans, as reflected by ‘soccer’, ‘World Cup’ and ‘Kaizer Chiefs’ featuring on the list.

Fastest rising news searches: South Africa, 2010

1. Haiti
2. Malema Julius
3. Earthquake
4. Bafana
5. Nelson Mandela
6. World Cup
7. Cape Town
8. Soccer
9. Zuma
10. Kaizer Chiefs

Music: B.o.B, Paramore and Eminem

Web lyric searches also reveal what South Africans have been singing along to during the past twelve months. Lyrics to ‘Airplanes’ the smash hit by B.o.B, featuring Hayley Williams from Paramore and Eminem, seem to be the most popular with South African music lovers, alongside ‘Bedrock’ by Lil’ Wayne and ‘Deuces’ sung by Chris Brown.

Fastest rising song lyrics searches, South Africa, 2010

1. Airplanes lyrics
2. Bedrock lyrics
3. Deuces lyrics
4. Justin Bieber lyrics
5. Lyrics waka waka
6. not afraid lyrics
7. omg lyrics
8. pyramid lyrics
9. rude boy lyrics
10. stereo love lyrics

‘Internet is dominated by young people’

Overall, international pop stars dominated search in 2010, perhaps reflecting the fact that the internet is dominated by young people. The only entry into the overall Top 10 that is not a celebrity is the new TV channel, Top TV. More general searches for news, lottery results and popular kids social network, Moshi Monsters make up the rest of the list.

Fastest rising searches: South Africa, 2010

1. Justin Bieber
2. Nicki Minaj
3. Toptv
4. Locnville
5. Die Antwoord
6. Yahoo sign in
7. Powerball results
8. News24.com South Africa
9. Moshi monsters
10. Afrihost

To see more information about Google Zeitgeist across the globe, take a look at the site.