2020 YEAR IN REVIEW - MCCRINDLE
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2020 year in review
The year 2020 will go down in history as one of the most unprecedented and challenging
years of modern times. From the Australian bushfires to COVID-19, Black Lives Matter and
the U.S election, it has been a tumultuous year of change. Here, we take a look at this iconic
year in review.
Words of the year
The Oxford Word of the Year reflects the year’s ‘ethos, mood or preoccupations’ and has the
potential for lasting cultural significance. Normally there is only one word of each year, yet
‘given the phenomenal breadth of language change and development during 2020, Oxford
Languages concluded that this is a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single
word’, with a number of words being identified as words of the year.
Bushfire (Jan 2020, to depict the Australian bushfire season, the worst on record)
|1
Coronavirus and the subsequent abbreviation of COVID-19 (March 2020, a
completely new word introduced by the World Health Organisation to describe the
disease)
Lockdown (April 2020, the preferred term for government-enforced quarantine
measures)
Social distancing (April 2020, the phrase to describe the measures introduced by
Governments to stop the spread of COVID-19)
Black Lives Matter (June 2020, used to describe the protests against law
enforcement agencies over the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other
black Americans in communities across the United States and the world)
Cancel Culture (July 2020, a term to describe the culture of boycotting and
withdrawing support from public figures whose words and actions are considered
socially unacceptable)
Superspreader (Oct 2020, used to describe those who cause an outbreak of
COVID-19, originating from the well-publicised spread of cases in the White House).
‘The fact that in 2020 we don’t have just one word of the year – but several – demonstrates
how much of an unusual year it was. While we have all been told this year that we are living
in ‘unprecedented times’ and we need to ‘adapt’ and ‘pivot’ to the ‘new normal’, some of this
new vocabulary is starting to wear thin for Australians. Our research has shown that the
phrases that Australians are most sick of are ‘all in this together’ (18%), ‘social distancing’
(13%) and ‘unprecedented times’ (12%).’ – Ashley Fell, Social Researcher.
Australia’s most Googled terms of 2020
The most searched terms on Google reveal what we are most curious about. The top overall
Google searches were:
1. US election
2. Coronavirus
3. NBA
4. Zoom
5. Coronavirus symptoms
Most downloaded apps
Social media apps are the most popular apps in the world, with TikTok overtaking Facebook
as the most downloaded app. Other Facebook owned platforms like Whatsapp and
Instagram round out the top five, with Zoom (the only non-social media app in the top five)
|2breaking through in 2020 to become the fourth most downloaded app of 2020.
1. TikTok
2. Facebook
3. WhatsApp
4. Zoom
5. Instagram
‘Not surprisingly, the most downloaded apps of 2020 were ones that helped us stay
connected with others when we had to social distance and isolate. In 2020, social media
apps like TikTok and Instagram became important pathways for, particularly younger
generations, to share in the lockdown and social distancing measures they were
experiencing, with others. It helped people to stay connected and provided humorous ways
of understanding and coping with the vast amount of change that 2020 brought.’ – Ashley
Fell, Social Researcher.
Most liked Instagram posts
More than 40% of Australians use Instagram, or 10 million active users. The most liked
photo of 2020 was posted by Cristiano Ronaldo, a post in remembrance of Diego Maradona
which accrued 19.5 million likes. This was followed closely by a post from Chadwick
Boseman’s account in which his family announced his tragic death, which amassed 19.1
million likes.
What we tweeted about most
Twitter has been making a comeback in the last few years, in part boosted by the Trump-
effect, and being the platform of choice for real-time updates as the news cycle increases its
velocity.
The most retweeted tweet and most liked tweet of all time was the tweet announcing
Chadwick Boseman’s passing. It received 7.6 million likes.
#COVID19 and #BlackLivesMatter were the most tweeted hashtags of the year.
President Donald Trump, who’s own tweeting is legendary, was the most tweeted
about person of 2020. Donald Trump’s use of Twitter to communicate directly with the
public and bypass the traditional media is unlike any other politician, although Joe
Biden, Barack Obama, Narendra Modi and Kamala Harris were also among the most
tweeted-about global figures.
George Floyd, Kobe Bryant, Kanye West and Elon Musk also made the list of the most
|3tweeted about people worldwide.
The Korean boy band, BTS, continued from 2019 as this year’s most tweeted about
musicians, becoming a viral phenomenon and amassing 23 million followers on
Twitter.
Time person(s) of the year
Each year, Time magazine awards a person of the year to, according to the magazine,
someone “who affected the news or our lives the most, for better or worse”. US president-
elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris have been jointly named Time
Magazine’s 2020 Person of the Year. The duo broke gender and racial barriers and together
“offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket”, Time said in a profile of the pair. Time’s
chief executive said the pair received the award for “changing the American story”. Two
groups were also considered this year – healthcare workers battling the COVID-19
pandemic, and participants in the racial justice movement of Black Lives Matter.
Colour of the year
Pantone has described the colour of th eyear – Classic Blue – as ‘a timeless and enduring
blue hue. PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky
at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue
highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross
the threshold into a new era.’
Learnings from 2020
While all that 2020 brought has presented challenges, it also has also provided us with some
lessons. Our research found that more than half of Australians (52%) have spent more time
with their family/household members and want this to continue in their life in the future.
Similarly, half of Australians enjoyed a slower pace of life (49%) and prioritising financial
savings (49%), and want this to continue. The love for the outdoors has also been rekindled
with a third of Australians (34%) having spent more time in nature. Interestingly, more than
one in four Australians (26%) have spent more time praying or on spiritual pursuits and
would like this to continue in their life.
Similarly, transformations to work have also been positive in 2020. Seven in ten employed
Australians agree leadership now places a greater priority on employee wellbeing (70%) and
mental health (69%). More than three in five (65%) said they experienced greater flexibility
on where and when they worked, with 51% agreeing that remote working became the
|4default. There is now a greater openness to change and more than half of employed
Australians (55%) believe their workplace used 2020 as a chance to invest in growth and
development for their business.
‘Although 2020 brought about unforeseen challenges, it’s also worth noting the learnings
and positive changes that came out of this tumultuous year. From a recalibrated focus on
our wellbeing to changes in how and when we work in the future, this important year will go
down as one of great change. Much of what we had pre-COVID-19, we will never see again.
We are not moving to the next but the new. It is not a continuation of how things were, but
the start of a whole new reality.’ – Ashley Fell, Social Researcher.
Contact
Ashley Fell: info@mccrindle.com.au
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