What we most want to do, but often aren’t sure how, is tie a tie, kiss someone, and make them breakfast. Those are the findings of the world’s largest, and most honest, real-time survey of people’s thought processes.
Google has made the data available on the 100 most common searches beginning with the words, “How to…” from 2004 – 2017. This reveals the activities people turn to the internet for instructions on how to accomplish.
“How to tie a tie” tops the list. Before the internet was there to answer all of our questions, I suppose this information was passed on from fathers to sons. I haven’t taught my son how to tie a tie yet, but he is only five years old. He has worn a tie a couple of times, but they attach by Velcro.
I will teach him, however. Because if he grows past childhood and into his teenage years still wearing a Velcro tie, he will likely never need the answer to the second most Googled ‘how to’.
The second most Googled how-to query is “How to kiss…” Those of us who grew up in the dark ages BG (Before Google) had to learn this through humiliating trial and error on the schoolyard.
Today, when you Google how to kiss, you get step by step instructions. Interestingly, although perhaps unhelpfully, the first step is, “Be sure that you have lips.” Done. Let’s kiss.
Here’s how to do it:
Then comes breakfast. We really don’t know how to make breakfast. Among the top 20 most Googled how to’s are How to make pancakes, How to make French toast, How to boil eggs, and How to hard boil eggs.
I suppose this next one fits in somewhere between How to Kiss and How to Make Breakfast, but the number three most search for instructions on Google is “How to get pregnant.” Which kind of puts the whole sex education in schools debate into perspective. Clearly, we need more of it.
We are concerned about our bodies and are apparently never satisfied with them. Both “How to lose weight” as well as “How to gain weight” crack the top 20 searches.
We also want money, with “How to make money” making the top 10 searches. Encouragingly, however, we are willing to get a job and work for that money. Both “How to write a cover letter” and “How to write a resume” also make the top 20.
Here are the top 20 How To’s searched on Google from 2012-2017
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how to tie a tie
how to kiss
how to get pregnant
how to lose weight
how to draw
how to make money
how to make pancakes
how to write a cover letter
how to make french toast
how to lose belly fat
how to write a resume
how to boil eggs
how to draw a rose
how to gain weight
how to get rid of fruit flies
how to tie a bow tie
how to make slime
how to love
how to hard boil eggs
how to get rid of acne
How to Love makes the top 20. That’s what many of us are looking for. Further down the top 100 list you’ll find ‘How to tell if a girl/boy likes me’ and ‘How to get a girl/boy to like me’.
To see the full one hundred searches, you can download the complete data from Google here.
