My hobby: To keep checking @Google trends for tracking what the world is up to. Throws up multiple dramatic shifts which have all happened over past few weeks due to #COVID19. A thread

Fasten your seat belts! (1/10)

The rise of DIY: Forced by #lockdown, people are figuring out how to do things themselves. There is a sudden rise of interest in easy cooking recipes, home workouts, how to fix, how to clean etc. Personal favorite: how to cut your hair. Pro tip: don't (2/10)

Location doesn't matter any more: Add "near me" to any search term and you see a steep drop. Restaurants near me, coworking spaces near me, even doctors near me - have all dropped by 50-70%. Movie theatres near me - has dropped by a dramatic 96%! (3/10)

Travel is badly hit: Seems obvious but it really sinks in when you see the numbers. Search volume for all hotly contested travel key words such as - hotel booking, flight booking, weekend getaways, top places to visit - has dropped by 70-80% (4/10)

Cash crunch is real: All inflow related queries (SME Loans, Earn from home) have a seen a 2X increase in search volume. Everything outflow related like buy mutual funds has dropped by 50%. Payment delays have seen a meteoric rise (5/10)

Home deliveries to the rescue: People are managing essentials through home deliveries. Medicine delivery, grocery delivery, food delivery have all seen a 4-5X rise. Flower delivery - not so much (6/10)

Bits overtake atoms: Watershed moment for products and services which are can be delivered online-only. Interest in online games, online classes, video calls and webinars has spiked 3-4X. Steepest rise seen in tele-consultations with a 10X spike! (7/10)

Some revival in consumerism: Prefix "buy" before any consumer product and you see a 50-70% drop in March. Buy cosmetics, buy shoes, buy jewellery, buy used car, buy anything. The good news is, all of them show some revival over last 2 weeks. V-shape or U-shape? You decide (8/10)

Finally some time for hobbies: Locked down and bored, people are finally getting some time for their dusted guitars and paint brushes. How to play guitar, how to oil paint, learn to dance - have all become 2X more popular (9/10)

Some of these shifts will be temporary (e.g., drop in travel) while some will last (e.g., comfort with tele-consultations). It's a tough time for the world but #ThisTooShallPass. Stay strong everyone!

Ps: What are some trends you can think of? Do share below! (10/10)