Simone Del Rosario:

Wrapping up 2023, what’s your search history say about you this year? The Wikimedia Foundation says people viewed its pages 84 billion times. We’re counting down the top 5 most popular themes in this week’s Five For Friday.

Taylor Swift is having a monster year that ends with her being Time’s Person of the Year. StubHub says The Eras Tour’s the most in-demand concert of 2023, with an average ticket price of $1,088 (gasp). That tour spawned a movie that became the highest grossing concert film ever. And her romance with NFL tight end Travis Kelce boosted NFL ratings. People viewed T-Swift’s wiki page 19 million times this year, putting her at number 12.

Barbie might have beat Oppenheimer at the box office, but people searched Oppenheimer a whole lot more. It’s number 5 in page views this year, while J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as “the father of the atomic bomb,” came in at number 7. Together, a combined 54 million views. The other half of Barbenheimer, Barbie, hit number 13. Hindi-Language thrillers Jawan and Pathaan also topped Barbie with the 8th and 10th most-viewed pages. They’re India’s 5th and 6th biggest movies of all time.

Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world, and yet, this is the first time the sport has hit Wiki’s top 25 list. Well, it came in hot. The 2023 Cricket World Cup, which the Aussies won for a record 6th time, was the third-most-viewed page with 38 million views. The broader Cricket World Cup page was number 6. The Indian Premier League came in at number 4, with this specific season’s page at number 9. Combine them all and that blows everyone out of the water, just like the Chennai Super Kings, congrats on the win.

Unlike cricket, our number 2 is a perennial favorite, albeit morbid. 2023’s list of deaths has more than 42 million page views. The most independently searched was the man who made us laugh for decades. Friends star Matthew Perry, who passed away in October, came in at 17; while daughter of Elvis and ex-wife of Michael Jackson Lisa Marie Presley, who passed in January, came in at 22.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the fastest-growing consumer app in history and the most-viewed page of the year. With just shy of 50 million views, it’s no wonder since we have to look up whether AI can take our jobs. Remember when Wikipedia got a bad rap as a research source, how about kids using ChatGPT to cheat in school! I’m surprised OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn’t make the list. He did get fired and rehired in a single week. Is that what it takes to be Time’s CEO of the Year?

We were able to actually cover a good majority in those 5 themes. Soccer icons Ronaldo and Messi showed up 14 and 15, too…Who’s the GOAT now? (looks around) It’s Taylor. It’s still Taylor. That’s Five for Friday. I’m Simone Del Rosario. It’s Just Business.