Be it Neeraj Chopra’s gold winning moment or MS Dhoni’s title winning comeback, a lot took place in 2021 in what could be known as a year of ups and downs. And the internet, as usual, was ready with searches, memes and much more to dodge through the season and take it all in with a smile. So here’s to 2021 as we go back to understand all what happened on the internet.
It wasn’t the best of starts for 2021 with the most searched term being ‘doom scrolling’. The habit of consuming excessive negative news was on everyone’s mind because we either wanted to know what it means or looked for ways to stop doing it.
Either way, this could have been a result of the impact of Covid-19 because a global pandemic is not something that one can forget. However, there was something to cheer on as we kept reaching the end of January and got struck by the sheer brilliance of Wallstreetbets.
A Reddit fueled rally was all that it took to push American brick-and-mortar retailer GameStop and its shares to millions. The group which identified GameStop as the next big thing began to classify it as ‘YOLO’ (You Only Live Once) bets and one user, in particular, placed a legendary bet of $50k on GME.
The bet placed back in September of 2019 was worth $13 million by January 2021. The stuff of legends.
The GameStop Timeline of Growth
- December 8th 2020 – Reports an operating loss of $63 million (share price – $13.66)
- January 2021 – Appoints 3 new directors and causes a chatter at r/wallstreetbets.
- January 13th 2021 – a quick rise in stock prices (share price – $31.40)
- January 21st 2021 – share price closed at $43.03
- January 31st 2021 – Hollywood movie deal on the cards.
- February 2nd 2021 – sharp fall in stock price leaves shares at $140.76.
While GameStop and wallstreetbets kept the world’s attention, the month of March brought something else. I.e. Captain Krishnan Kanthavel and his ship, Ever Given, which was carrying cargo worth roughly $1 billion.
It was the 13th ship that was scheduled to travel through the Suez Canal on March 23rd, 2021 and little did the world know that this journey would turn out to be the talking point around the world. The ship was the largest in the queue and also the most valuable.
As preparations began for the 12-hour Captain Kanthavel had received the all-clear from the agency that manages the waterway. However, a few moments later, the blocky shape of the vessel began to backfire and the Ever Given’s vast hull made it difficult to respond to instructions steering a hard right and left.
Thus began Ever Given’s six-day stay at the Suez Canal which also amounted to losses leading up to billions.
The Numbers & Cost of Blockage
- No. of containers – 18,300
- Loss per day – &14m – $15m
- Estimated to have caused a block of $9.6bn of global trade
While these numbers are certainly worrying, time played an important factor in bringing together other events and Indians shifted their attention towards some T20 action. That’s right, fans of cricket were greeted to the famous Indian Premier League or IPL as it returned for the 2021 season in April.
While 8 teams started battling it out with each other, the tournament had to be stopped by the start of May due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in India.
Regardless, there was still a huge spike in IPL betting searches as reported by a cricket betting site when the tournament was in full swing in April and when it resumed in September.
Another interesting query which showed rise in the similar period was for real money games which continued until the second lockdown came to an end.
The 2021 IPL Final (15th Oct 2021)
- Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders
- CSK – 192/3 & KKR – 165/9
- Player of the match – Faf du Plessis (86 from 59)
When the IPL was still going on, the world was also getting ready to know who Miss Universe 2021 would be. Amidst all the hype and the fierce competition that it turned out to be, it was Andrea Meza, who was crowned as the 69th Miss Universe.
Once the announcement was loud and clear, shouts for ‘Viva Mexico’ could be heard as Mexicans rejoiced in joy at the news that they had just heard. Following which, searches for ‘miss universe Mexico winners’ saw a clear spike as the world started taking notice of all that had happened.
With pride being seen on every Mexican’s face, we moved towards the next big thing of the year, i.e welcoming the month of pride.
In June of this year, the world was interested in searching for ‘pride events near me’ as a way of celebrating and accepting the LGBTQ+ community. This broader sense has surely brought about a change since there was an increase of +5,000% worldwide searches for ‘pride events near me’.
While that search clearly indicates a positive change, we were slowly driven to the next big thing and it came in the form of Amazon Prime Day 2021. The highly-anticipated event, which began on the 21st of June and ended on the 22nd, was a two-day shopping event where Prime members were treated to deals, offers and a lot more.
The e-commerce giant even made new launches and according to KaroBargain, there was a tremendous rise in people looking for Amazon Sales. Hence, the good folks using the internet were having the time of their life as Amazon kept providing one offer after the other.
And once the internet began to move forward, they slowly shifted their attention towards Copa America. Everyone wanted to know more about the event as Copa America standings turned out to be breakout searches. Moreover, the tournament also saw one of the greatest footballers of all time captaining his team to glory.
The man in question is none other than Lionel Messi who was covered in tears of joy as he lifted his first-ever International Trophy. The 2021 Copa America finals were played between Brazil and Argentina, seamlessly pitching Messi against his close friend Neymar.
However, the 90-minute action was no ground for friendship as rivalries began to break out and both teams looked to lift the trophy. But it was Argentina who came out on top and Messi finally realized his dream. So what’s next on Messi’s mind, the 2022 Qatar World Cup?
Messi at Copa America 2021
- Joint top scorer along with Luis Diaz
- 4 goals and 5 assists
- Golden Ball Award
- Contributed 9 out of 13 goals scored by Argentina
- Most capped Argentina Player (151)
While Messi lifted his first international trophy, Italy won its second by beating England at the finals of the UEFA European Championship. As a result, everyone wanted to know a bit of history which prompted them to search ‘how many times has Italy won the euros’.
Moreover, Italy’s victory slogan ‘it’s coming Rome’, a remake of England’s ‘it’s coming home, also saw a spike in searches.
The Band of Italians at Euro 2020
- Games played – 7 / Won – 5 / Drawn – 2
- Goals scored – 13 / Conceded – 4
- Tackles won – 29
- Balls recovered – 291
Italy’s performance at the Euros was beyond extraordinary and they did create history. However, 23-year-old Neeraj Chopra was also creating history in India.
In August of this year, Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra made history by winning India’s first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo Olympics. Chopra, who started his training at the Shivaji Stadium in Panipat, was ranked second in the World Athletics rankings shortly after winning the medal.
And Indians had more than a single reason to celebrate. Not only did they have a record-breaker at their midst but also the season of celebrations were coming. As we were heading towards October, Indians recorded a search interest for ‘which color dress to wear in Navratri’ as the festival started taking shape.
Since the nine nights of Navratri are commonly associated with different colors, “Which color dress to wear?” was clearly the top search. Indians started Googling for answers and looked to wear glamorous clothes for the big occasion.
The festival, which marks the commemoration of good over evil, is celebrated as devotees worship the nine avatars of Goddess Durga.
While the festival did come to an end, the internet decided to move on and registered an interest in Cryptocurrency. Reddit, which even has groups centered around the subject, saw their most viewed community from crypto space.
So the year was filled with searches of all kinds and since the internet never sleeps, we were either greeted towards such information or were part of the process of searching for the same. Hence, let’s end the year with this thirst to find more information and look towards another with more trends, searches and the internet.
Disclaimer:
- As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman and Sikkim, prohibit gambling
- Land-based casinos are legalized, with certain guidelines, in Goa and Daman, as per the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976
- Land-based casinos, Online gambling and E-gaming (games of chance) are legalized in Sikkim under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009
- Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries as per and subject to the conditions laid down by state laws. Kindly refer to the same here
- Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in a licensed premise in select states. Kindly refer to the 1996 Judgement by the Supreme Court Of India here and for more information
- This article does not endorse or express the views of Qrius and/or any of its staff.
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