Google is teaching American adults how to be adults
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Some common, practical life skills are among Google's most searched how-to's of the year. Image: Courtesy of Google Trends
More than ever before, adults are looking online for help with the day-to-day life skills that once might have been taught in home ec classes or handed down from elders.
Why it matters: When we need help, we're not asking mom or dad. We're increasingly asking Google.
The latest: Searches for things like "how to clean bathroom vent," "how to use a mop" or "how to do oil change" have reached an all-time high on Google this year, according to the search engine's data.
The big picture: It's not just Google teaching us how to care for our cars and homes.
- By 2018, more than half of U.S. YouTube users were already saying they used the platform for "figuring out how to do things they haven't done before," according to Pew Research data.
- Or, as one Reddit user said, we're turning to "The University of YouTube."
- Cleaning trends remain one of the most popular content categories on TikTok.
- And AI chatbots like ChatGPT can help explain just about anything.
Zoom in: Surveys have shown we often don't know know to maintain our homes or our cars.
- One potential reason: practical skills training in schools — classes that teach students things like sewing or managing finances — has decreased in the U.S.
- Less than a third of American high schoolers take a class like that, according to the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences.
State of play: "Sometimes we take for granted that kids know how to wash dishes," educator Susan Turgeson told NPR in 2018.
- "I never thought I was going to have to explain, step by step, how to put the drain plug in, the amount of soap to be used."
Yes, but: There are still places for adults to learn the business of adulting IRL.
- Local libraries and universities often have classes for practical life skills. So, too, do clubs, like the Repair Café.
Zoom in: The San Francisco-based Dykes with Drills teaches building workshops in New Orleans, Chicago and, soon, Little Rock, Ark.
- "A lot of people come to our workshops because they're looking to get those skills," says Dykes with Drills executive director Carrie Rasor. "They want to be able to do work on their own houses but have no experience using tools … and tools can be really intimidating."
Plus, Rasor says, there's a lot that can get lost when you try to learn everything online.
- "Until you see somebody in person doing it, it's more difficult to really understand the ins and outs with complex tools," she says. "There's definitely a benefit to having that social connection and interaction and support from others who are learning the same thing."
