John Lennon once remarked that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now". This proved to be a controversial comment, especially in the United States. However, 50 years later and Memes are more popular than Jesus. And this time we have the data to back it up.
As first noted by Twitter user @kuwaddo, more people now search for "Memes" than "Jesus". You can see the data for yourself by comparing the two search terms on Google Trends, just as we did here:
According to the comparison chart, Memes first overtook Jesus at the beginning of May. The pair then jostled for a while, before Memes began consistently trending above Jesus. The killing of Harambe, and the memes that followed, no doubt helped cement this transition.
The number of people searching for Jesus rather unsurprisingly spikes around Christmas and Easter, so don't be surprised if Memes have to fight to remain on top. For now, however, Memes are bigger than Jesus. So says the Gospel according to Google.
What Does This All Mean? Nothing!
This offers an interesting insight into how the internet has changed our lives. It suggests people are more interested in finding funny memes to share with friends than they are finding religion. Which will be a good or a bad thing depending on your personal point of view.
It's important to note, however, that people searching for "Jesus" are looking for information on one person. Whereas "Memes" is a vaguer term which can be applied to multiple pieces of content. Moreover, people are only likely to search for Jesus once, whereas they may search for Memes on a daily basis.
At the end of the day comparing search terms in this way should only ever be taken in a light-hearted manner. After all, you can compare all kinds of things on Google Trends and find some interesting results. For example, according to Google, Trump and Clinton are also both bigger than Jesus. Which I think we can all agree is a very bad thing.
Are you surprised to learn more people now search for "Memes" than search for "Jesus"? What do you think this says about society in the 21st century? What search terms have you compared on Google Trends? Please let us know in the comments below!
Image Credit: Topher McCulloch via Flickr