Dear readers and customers,
the pandemic and now an ongoing war in Europe since over a year combined with an excessive media consumption because of several lockdowns through this entire time made one thing clear: “everything falls apart”.
But is this really the case?
Can we say that peoples’ interests and what the media provides for its consumers became really worse?
Is this just a subjective opinion, varying from individual to individual, or is it scientifically traceable?
That’s exactly what we did in our now finished field study “Into The German Mind” from February 2022 to February 2023.
We wanted to know what really grinds the gears for Germans and makes it to the top on Google Trends.
Here are the results from one whole year of observation:
Somehow you need to provide proof if you think everything is going to sh*t.
Somehow bad media coverage should be traceable.
The same is true for the interest of the average media consumer: if there is no interest in serious or relevant topics, media outlets won’t provide this as they can’t sell ads here and make no money. It’s a no-brainer.
So let us categorise the results for you now for easier interpretation, starting with the most sought after and going down from there:
Entertainment: IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII III
Sports: IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIII
Politics: IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII
Life: IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII
Economy: IIIII IIIII II
Technology: IIIII I
Crime: IIIII
Health: IIII
Art: III
Science: II
Religion: II
And the winner is: Entertainment! One hundred and thirteen mentionings out of 329 overall in only one year! What people in Germany want and “need” the most, a country with to date 83 million inhabitants, is not health, not science, not even sports, they want entertainment! So Kurt Cobain in “Smells like teen spirit” (1991) was totally right: “Here we are now, entertain us!” And it seems nothing changed in 32 long years. Heavy. If you can’t provide news and links and junk and whatnot about this topic, don’t try to open or maintain a media outlet in Germany: you will go bankrupt with it.
Second place, not really surprising over here: sports. Football and tennis are incredibly popular, so these are the most hot topics people were looking on the internet here. Followed by some US “sports” like football or wrestling.
Third place: politics. A little bit surprising if you ask us. Not so surprising if you know a bit about German history. It’s really the only ray of hope in the Top 3 here, as this is not only done by the people in a democracy and the discussion about “democracy crisis” is ongoing since over a decade now. But it shows people in Germany still like the “meta” in their life and in the world, want to take influence in a way and change the everyday life to the positive. Because really this is the only chance we have as individuals to do so in a democracy and it’s also a good prospect for the collective. Present and future.
Honorable mention: life at #4. If you need social aid, these are the topics you are looking for. Same is true for your pet or if you need compensation for your heating. Or you would like to know which holiday is at the moment, etc. Some of this is irrelevant, no discussion about that. But some is also important for your everyday life which shows us Germany is not full of zombies as the winner of the categorisation which took the top spot would suggest. Nevertheless: don’t think you can make money with it, as entertainment, sports and even politics will take the crown for relevancy. Think about that for a moment if that’s really how you want to proceed in your life. In Germany, Europe; wherever you might be at the moment reading this.
Everything else is neglectable: Economy. Technology. Crime. Even health, a topic which we thought would be important during pandemic times – totally not true, the facts say otherwise. Oh, and don’t ever think making content about science, religion or art! Of course you can do, nobody is stopping you from doing it. But paying your rent with it? Nah. Im-poss-ible. Nobody will look for it, nobody will pay for ads here. Do yourself a favour and look for other hobbies, like becoming an influencer (entertainment!) or becoming a tennis star (sports!) for example. No, please don’t. This was a joke, OK. Maybe a bad one but a joke, j-o-k-e.
So, yes, which took the top spot over a whole year might suggest exactly that: all is going to shit. If all people really care about is entertainment, life has no meaning anymore. Like Kurt Cobain fabulously told us in one of his most memorisable songs. May he rest in peace, as he also failed miserably to change something to the better and finally, sadly, killed himself. The only hope we have here is that trends vary, on Google Trends and elsewhere. And they vary in even shorter timespans as ever before. What held relevancy in the past for over a decade or more, then for a decade, only applies today for a timespan of just a few years. So when we come back in, let’s say 10 years, doing the same study, we might have another ranking. With, who knows, maybe science taking the top spot. Or art. Of course the possibility of that is minor to happen but it’s not completely ruled out as the future, our future, is still unwritten.
Facts are facts. What you did in the past defines your present. What you do in the present defines your future. Be your own future! That’s another reason why we are here, AETHYX MEDIAE, your friendly and helpful indie online publishing house.
Let us help you in changing things for the better! Start your own blog! Write your own eBook! You want to work collectivly on your own projects, rent some of our cloud space! Want your own app – of course, we got you covered! Hire us now and be part of a future where we tackle the concepts of relevancy, all by ourselves.
We hope you enjoyed our excursus today, it took a lot of work and discipline from us. But it was also a lot of fun.
Take care and best wishes,
your aethyx staff
