We’re so glad to see you for our first Youth Updates of 2022! This drop, we look at 2021 Google trends, an online conversation about fishing and the landscape of youth-work – plus our word of the month (of course!),
TRENDS: 2021 GOOGLE TRENDS
Each year, Google releases a trend report for the past 12 months, which gives an insight into both wider culture and how youth culture affects and shifts mainstream trends. Here are a few of our favourite things we pulled out of it:
- The world searched ‘y2k’ more in 2021 than ever before (showing how the Gen Z revival of fashion and aesthetics, from the turn of the millennium, has gained huge traction!)
- The world searched for ‘sea shanties’ more in 2021 than in the rest of Google’s history, which sprung out of the wave of shanties and popularity of ‘Wellerman’ on TikTok
- Another TikTok inspired trend was that the 6th most popular question was ‘where does vanilla flavouring come from?’ – this did the rounds on the social media platform when it was revealed that artificial vanilla flavouring comes from a chemical found in the glands of a beaver’s bottom…gross…
- Olivia Rodrigo, a huge Gen Z star, appears twice in the top lyrics
- Squid Game was, unsurprisingly, the top searched TV show of 2021
- The Euros were the top searched term in the UK for 2021 – full stop.
- The 5th most searched for definition was ‘woke’ – meaning someone who is in tune with social justice issues. The term is sometimes used by those attempting to dismiss, belittle or mock younger generations who fight for social causes or who stand on the liberal end of politics.
Source: https://trends.google.co.uk/trends/yis/2021/GB/
FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY: ARE YOUNG PEOPLE RETURNING TO CHURCH?
It’s been a tricky season when it comes to youth-work, and we are beginning to hear updates on where youth ministry is at. Many have been wondering just how many young people are coming back to church and whether the patterns we see in our own youth groups and churches are the norm.
Recently, the EA released a report that showed that 24% of the churches they asked who did youth ministry pre-pandemic, have now stopped. Alongside this, research done by Youthscape, shows that youth groups are on average 53% smaller than they were pre-pandemic. If your attendance is down – you are not alone.
Furthermore, there are wider church patterns that people are now going to church less regularly. The number of people going weekly is down, having shifted towards fortnightly or monthly attendance instead. This has been noted in youth-work too – with many young people attending less frequently.
Sources:
- https://www.eauk.org/assets/files/downloads/Changing-Church-Autumn-2021-Research-Report.pdf
- youthscape.co.uk/research/the-story/the-story-18
POP CULTURE/ISSUES: A SPECIFIC KIND OF FISHING
We’re not talking about fishing with a hook, line and sinker. We’re talking about blackfishing and asianfishing. Blackfishing is a word for when someone is seen to be pretending to be black/mixed-race or leaning towards presenting with the features and aesthetics of black people and their culture. Asianfishing is the Asian equivalent.
It’s something that has been in discussion in the online space, amongst commentary around several influencers but has entered celebrity culture too. Jesy Nelson (ex-member of Little Mix) has been a particular focus of this conversation for a while, peaking when her song ‘Boyz’ came out in October. Many accused her of blackfishing due to her tan, lip filler, curly hair and the clothes and gestures she chose to use.
Similarly, Ariana Grande has come under fire for blackfishing due to her dark tan, but just before Christmas she came out with a new paler look, alongside a new way of doing her eyeliner that caused many to see her as asianfishing – with some nicknaming her ‘Arigato Grande’.
Young people’s calling out of others online when they see them do something wrong isn’t new, and calling people out on black or asian-fishing is part of a wider conversation around cultural appropriation, the value of diversity and respecting other people’s races and cultures.
WORD OF THE MONTH
‘Lowkey’ = used to mean something the speaker feels quite strongly about.
Eg. “I lowkey want to eat a whole cake right now” – I really want to eat a cake right now
“I lowkey love Zendaya” – I actually love Zendaya
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