Chromosomes aside, 'boys selfie tips' came top in search
In 2014 the world searched for 'guy selfie tips' and 'men selfie tips,' but almost never for 'girl selfie tips.'
The year of the selfie
Purely a vanity project?
From A-listers at the Oscars to monkeys in the jungle, selfies hit the mainstream in 2014 with searches increasing 8x on last year. People wanted to know how to take a 'better selfie,' up 6x, while the rest of us were simply asking 'what is a selfie,' up 3x on 2013.
A force for good
In March Cancer Research UK launched the "no make up selfie," inspiring girls to post au naturel selfies. During the month searches for ‘cancer awareness’ doubled as the campaign generated $12.5M.
A selfie stick is a tool that helps people take better selfies by increasing the field of vision of the camera. 'Selfie stick' saw a jump of 19x this year. Just remember to hold the stick out of shot.
Photobombing is the act of stepping into the background of a photograph to humorously sabotage it. Searches for 'photobomb' doubled after Queen Elizabeth's famous effort.
A photobomb of royal proportions
In July the Queen of England photobombed two Australian Commonwealth Games hockey players. The picture went viral and 'queen photobombing' became the fourth-highest related search.
"I lost my friends, my education, my health and almost my life."
In June UK teenager Danny Bowman spoke publicly about his selfie addiction. His openness encouraged conversation about 'body dysmorphic disorder,' which peaked for the year.
A truly cheeky monkey
David Slater left his camera unattended for a macaque monkey to join the selfie craze. The pictures were shared and searched worldwide, with 'monkey selfie' more popular than 'kardashian selfie.'
Top five most searched celebrity selfies in 2014:
- Ellen DeGeneres
- Emma Stone
- President Obama
- Kim Kardashian
- Danica Patrick
Nothing is new
In February a photo taken almost 100 years ago was declared the "first selfie ever." Searches for the term jumped 7.5x.
For every occasion. No, seriously.
In March a plane carrying Hannah Udren crash-landed. Her words “So my plane just crash landed” and the accompanying selfie went viral. 'Plane crash selfie' even beat 'queen photobomb' in search.