#2020 - googblogs.com

2020 will go down in history, for turning out to be the exact opposite of the pithy symmetry it promised. Many vision documents and New Year resolutions had this year down for the achievement of many goals, but this year turned the tables just when we thought we were close.

The ground beneath us shifted this year - creating a time when we needed one another the most, but ironically, proximity was the one thing we couldn’t have. The YouTube creator community stepped in to answer the questions on all our minds - from haircuts to workouts to crisis cooking ideas to cultivating hobbies from scratch (gardening, anyone?) - helping with much needed catharsis and a sense of being together, even when socially distanced.

And as we started to come to grips with the tumult, the creator community held out virtual steadying hands. We saw BB Ki Vines use his platform to shine a light on groups who felt the worst economic brunt of the pandemic and donated all the earnings from these videos to charity. There was also Samay Raina, who came up with the inventive ‘Chess for Charity’ and donated all earnings towards the fight against Covid-19.

Karthik Aryan used his vast platform to spotlight the unsung heroes of the pandemic - frontline workers and first responders, while creators like Sandeep Maheshwari and Prajakta Koli broached the often-overlooked topic of mental health, encouraging their communities towards self-care.

We also had creators like CA Rachna Phadke, Tanmay Bhat and Dr. Vivek Bindra sharing pragmatic tips for financial prudence and investments for individuals and small businesses to weather the pandemic.

We celebrated Onam, Ramzan and Diwali on YouTube. We laughed and empathized about online classes and online dating, obsessed over squads in FreeFire and imposters in Among Us and inspired one another into learning to cook Matar Paneer, try our hand at Hyderabadi Biryani and even recreate the classic Dal Tadka in our kitchens.

It has been a time when platforms like YouTube, and technology more generally, transcended their erstwhile utilitarian or entertaining roles in our lives and became the thread with which we held on to one another - sharing, reaching out, connecting and finding hope.

We feel privileged to have played a helpful role in this time, purveying entertainment, information and education - but more than anything else, we are privileged to be the canvas for the resilience, kindness and limitless creativity of the YouTube community.

As we look forward with hope, here are the year’s Top Trending Videos, Top Music Videos, Top Creators and Top Breakout Creators.

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Tag Archives: #2020

The best things about 2020 (no, really!)

Source: Official Google India Blog