SignBSL Year in Review 2021
End of a year, so time for a quick analysis of the year. SignBSL has been running since 2013 and has experienced growth every year. This year 23,433,479 searches were completed, an increase of just over 16% from last year. It is always fascinating to see what people search for. I have included the top 50 searches below.
| Search Query | No. Searches | % change |
|---|---|---|
| how are you | 54,935 | 67% |
| hello | 34,330 | 15% |
| I love you | 33,765 | 225% |
| my name is | 32,226 | 32% |
| happy | 32,043 | 17% |
| what | 30,365 | 11% |
| want | 29,960 | 1% |
| and | 29,299 | 23% |
| tired | 27,973 | 94% |
| how | 27,937 | 0% |
| I | 26,796 | -5% |
| thank you | 26,698 | 32% |
| like | 24,970 | -7% |
| no | 24,787 | 9% |
| good morning | 23,976 | 50% |
| you | 23,081 | -4% |
| do | 22,907 | -1% |
| why | 22,275 | 4% |
| love | 22,135 | -21% |
| have | 22,125 | 0% |
| when | 21,489 | 3% |
| more | 20,893 | 22% |
| with | 20,084 | 5% |
| can | 19,716 | -7% |
| good | 18,771 | 26% |
| a | 18,770 | 36% |
| where | 18,458 | 12% |
| to | 18,299 | -1% |
| sorry | 18,275 | 33% |
| please | 18,170 | 23% |
| toilet | 18,115 | 27% |
| go | 17,963 | -5% |
| beautiful | 17,876 | 26% |
| yes | 17,824 | 11% |
| help | 17,752 | 20% |
| dog | 17,365 | 14% |
| friend | 16,861 | 17% |
| on | 16,752 | 76% |
| who | 16,713 | 6% |
| word | 16,502 | 0% |
| today | 16,476 | 2% |
| school | 16,200 | 5% |
| need | 16,188 | -3% |
| is | 15,597 | -7% |
| sister | 15,305 | 26% |
| say | 15,185 | 62% |
| the | 15,076 | 17% |
| your | 14,930 | 16% |
| are you ok | 14,925 | 100% |
| hello, my name is | 14,860 | 134% |
Its interesting that the top searches are people wanting to introduce themselves or a basic greeting. Clearly a large number of those searching are new to British Sign Language. Phrases such as 'I love you`, `love` and `beautiful` also feature. Perhaps a meeting with a deaf person has prompted someone to learn a short message.
Its also interesting to compare various word pairings. For example "No" was searched 24,782 compared to "Yes" at 17,824. "Sister" searched for 15,305 compared to "Brother" at 13,123. "Good morning" searched for 23,976 compared with "Good afternoon" at 10,606.