Users of the English version of Wikipedia tend to focus their searches around their media consumption, according to an analysis of 2017’s top pages by a group of the site’s editors.
Why it matters: As the Internet’s top repository of information, Wikipedia searches can give us an insight into what intrigues people most — and when. In 2017’s tumultuous political climate, it seems most English speakers wanted to learn more about relaxingly banal matters, like their favorite show on Netflix.
The trend: 18 of the year's top 25 pages were centered around film or television content.
- Viewers of Netflix's "The Crown" and PBS' "Victoria" tend to want to fact check their royal binges, as Elizabeth II's page clocked in at #3 and Victoria's at #13. (In keeping with a fascination with the royal family, Meghan Markle, fresh off her engagement to Prince Harry, also cracked the top five.)
- Game of Thrones is so popular that not only did the series' main page land at #6, but the individual page for the 7th season managed to eclipse it at #4.
- Indian moviegoers held a lot of sway as three slots were occupied by Bollywood-related searches, spurred by the Indian box office juggernaut Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (#11).
When people aren't watching TV or movies, they're searching for some of the most popular news topics in the worlds of politics and tech that spiked throughout the year.
- Examples: Donald Trump (unsurprisingly, #2), Bitcoin (#9), and Elon Musk (#24).
One nihilistic thing: Though the majority of the most popular Wikipedia pages had to do with more light-hearted content, last year’s top page was “Deaths in 2017.”