The year 'trending' in Mayo and beyond
SO that's it – the year is nearly at an end and, stuffed with turkey, we can look back on what was 'trending' between January and December.
This time we're concentrating on what the great Irish public at large focused on when browsing TikTok and searching on Google.
With Ireland having over two million monthly users on TikTok, the platform has certainly become one of the most popular since launching here five years ago.
Life hacks and, for some reason, the Roman Empire occupied users' minds muchly this past year, complemented by comfort-food recipes, satirical 'Point of View' (POV) videos, throwback tracks and thriving small businesses.
One of the 'breakthrough stars' on TikTok this year is a local man – Garron Noone (@garron_music). From Ballina, Garron is a musician and comedian who, according to TikTok, 'will have you in stitches with his hilarious hot takes and commentary on current events'.
They name among Garron's highlights his video on Irish Chinese food and his commentary on some harrowing twister footage.
Other breakthrough stars are @chrisisainmdom ('The Irish Gay'), @itshanice_ (a 24-year-old Irish creator who has amassed nearly half a million followers over the last four years), @annaliviahynds (a 25-year-old Northern Irish creator who is sharing her parenting journey; this year her follower count has grown by 453%), and @ericroberts44 (originally from Donegal, he has gained huge popularity sharing behind-the-scenes details about his time on Squid Games).
“It's been an incredible year for TikTok in Ireland,” Cormac Keenan, head of trust and safety at TikTok. “Artists, creators and businesses from across Ireland have been using TikTok to entertain, inspire and educate us all, whether its farmers using #FarmTok to share glimpses into their daily lives, booklovers using #BookTok to inspire reading across all genres, or #SmallBusiness using the platform to have fun, educate and attract customers.”
On Google, meanwhile, some of the things that captured the public imagination were Barbie and the Rugby World Cup (from one extreme to the other, eh!).
Another World Cup – the FIFA Women's World Cup, which included the Republic of Ireland for the first time – was also a popular search item on Google, as was an additional blockbuster movie, Oppenheimer.
‘What is Oppenheimer about?’ was one of the most popular ‘What is’ questions people asked Google, while Mission Impossible 7, Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 and Cocaine Bear among the most searched for movis.
This was the year of the Pornstar Martini too. Not only was it the second most searched recipe, but 'How to drink a Pornstar Martini' was the fourth most popular question people asked Google in 2023.
Finally, in a year during which a number of Irish music legends passed away, it should come as no surprise that several featured on the trending list. They include Sinead O’Connor, Shane McGowan and Christy Dignam, while Irish people also searched for other notable losses from around the world, such as Matthew Perry, Tina Turner and Lisa Marie Presley.
So that's a far from complete list of what was trending this past year. Let's see what 2024 will have in store. Happy new year.
Read Brian Gillespie's Alternative View column in our print edition every Tuesday